Mayor over
by zman123
Summary: Mr Mayor. The man who ran the chaos and danger filled city back as far as anyone would care to remember. Yet there comes a time when one questions, whether he steers in the right direction and really has the city's best interest at heart. When no one has run against him for so long, others must step in. The revolution is not an apple, and won't fall by itself after all...
1. Chapter 1

Bubbles stared out once again at a gruesome sight she had seen too many times. That made it no less gruesome nor chilling to watch and Bubbles cringed as the blood curdling scene unfolded before. Another one of those cruel, violent monsters from wherever it was they came from was storming across her beloved city, heedless to the death and destruction it was about to cause.

Like her twin sisters, Bubbles had been born with near perfect senses of sight and hearing, somehow even more coldly precise than those of her sisters for reasons unknown. For her telescopic vision showed to her some blocks away from the mayhem, a group of happy, cheerful children whose smiles were only just beginning to shrink as they left the safety of their houses to check on what those loud, ear piercing thumps could possibly be.  
From their expressions, Bubbles knew that the worst they expected was nowhere near as bad as what she could see but they could. It would only be a matter of time before the poor hapless souls realized they were dealing with something far worse than a few loud noises which must have awakened them from their slumber, leaving them unable to sleep.

Even as Bubbles turned away from the window, unable to stand the sight for any longer, she knew exactly of the events about to unfold. The phone would after some few minutes ring, rousing her sleeping sisters from their deep slumber. They'd be warned of the giant monster attack that to them by now, was just another item on the to do list of an average normal day. They'd promise to get to the scene of the disaster as soon as possible before zipping out of the window, using the special powers chemical x bestowed to them to quickly overpower the beast, ending its reign of terror in hardly any time at all. All would be well and good, except that Bubbles had already sighted 3 equally terrifying horrors stomping across the city. One lumbered in the general direction of the suburbs, while another ambled towards the shopping mall, grinning devilishly as it did. A third, smaller than its two brethren but no less disturbing to look out, marched gracefully towards what appeared to be the hospital.

Bubbles sighed. It was one of those days again. Even if they split up and each went after a different threat, by the time the threat was gone, some of the defenseless civilians would be lying dead on the asphalt, their eyes still gaping with shock. The ones that the monsters hadn't devoured at least.  
Such was the way of being the three only defenders the city had to call upon in the times of emergencies. No police teams, no national guards, no army was sent out to contain such threats. The vigilante teams who would use guns, or even sticks to try and do what they could in case the official defenses fell? Good gracious, what vigilante teams? Most of the kind citizens, well intentioned as they were, had not lifted a fist, let alone a sword or knife in their life.

Bubbles's predictions proved true as the hotline rang and Blossom, who had also finally stirred from her sleep, grabbed Bubbles's shoulder and shook it. Buttercup who had also been alarmed by the noise, frowned angrily as she stifled a large yawn and shook herself to fully wake herself up so early in the morning.  
There's an emergency Bubbles, we have to go now." yelled Blossom, kindly but urgently. As if I didn't know already, thought Bubbles, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of so many awful deaths.

It was not necessary to describe how the mayor's worried tone on the other end of the phone pleaded for aid and how they flew, still in their nightgowns out into the barely lit early morning sky. The day passed uneventfully, or at least as uneventfully as was possible for the three superhuman protectors who were the city's only hope. They fought, they won. They flew in separate direction, each one taking on a different beast.  
But as per Bubbles's grim predictions, by the time she had finished off the monster she had been assigned to take down, and managed to get to the fourth before her sisters, several building had already been demolished and several bodies already lined the earth, a carpet of blood staining the earth.

Bubbles winced briefly in anguish. Then she snarled as she lunged at the barbaric terror who had slain so many innocent lives. She really would have preferred to talk it down, to ask why it was doing this and beg it to stop. Normally Bubbles was quite peaceful and preferred to negotiate than fight, even if her approach was frowned upon by her sisters, Buttercup especially.  
But now was not the time. As much as she hated killing and maiming, she acknowledged that she could not let this one live for if she did it would surely take the lives of more helpless innocents. A beam of deadly energy shot from Bubbles's pale blue eyes, slamming into the monster's chest. It staggered back, as it turned to face Bubbles and roared a challenge.

Bubbles briefly closed her eyes and apologized to herself for the horrible things she was about to do. Then she dived for the beast's eye, slamming into it with as great a force as she could muster with her charge before quickly gliding away before the monster had a chance to react.  
The monster growled and held its eye, clearly in pain. Bubbles numbed herself and her expression steadied as she slammed again and again into the leathery body of the hulking monstrosity terrorizing her town, causing more and more green blood to well from multiple wounds in its skin.  
Several blows later, the monster wobbled and stumbled, its eye black and its body lined with wounds. Then with a dismal roar of fury, it made one final attempt to lunge at Bubbles but Bubbles dodged easily, and so it only succeeded in slamming into air.

It lost balance, and growled unintelligibly as it landed, making the earth shake. Bubbles covered her ears and closed her eyes as it fell. The bigger they were, the harder they fell, and the sight of so much blood, even if it was from a remorseless monster who would have done who knew what had Bubbles not put an end to it, caused her stomach to churn. The dead bodies lining the asphalt and the ruins of whatever building had been there before the monster came on the scene did nothing to lessen the pain.

Now seeing that the city was safe again, for the moment at least. Bubbles allowed herself the luxury of throwing up a large pool of vomit. She allowed herself to be patted gently and caressed as Blossom and Buttercup finally caught up with her and led her /She nodded silently as the professor congratulated the girls for another job well done and the mayor briefly called to show his thanks. Something he very rarely did.

She had no words, but merely gestured gently to be left in peace as Blossom and Buttercup recommended a game of cricket outside and some ice cream now that the monsters had all either fled, or lay rotting on the dusty ground. She had to think.

Bubbles closed her eyes and contemplated all that had happened this day.

Lives were lost despite her and her sisters's interventions since they could not be in more than 3 places at once despite their best efforts. This wasn't the first time that this had happened, nor would it be the last unless something was done to change this. The town had mostly suffered due to lack of preparation, and depending on the trio of girls too greatly.

But most of all, Mr Mayor had not bothered to do anything that could remotely have helped the situation despite his power and responsibilities.

It was very low, Bubbles knew as she sat reflecting alone in her room, to bring him into this. He was after all, the leader of the town and for him to have stayed as the mayor for so long, he must have been a good man in some way.

But the horrifying image of the dead children piled on the street, brought Bubbles back to her senses.

The mayor had once again done nothing, plain and simple.

Bubbles liked to think that back a while when Blossom ranted on and on about the mayor caring only about himself and being not really a real mayor, she was just overreacting as Bubbles hated to admit Blossom sometimes did.  
But now Bubbles really did begin to understand where her sister was coming from. This, and so many incidents before this had shaken her spirit more and more.  
Every day for poor Townsville, since she had been counting, had escalated to this. An attack, destruction, death and then a long and difficult fight as her sisters and her fought to defend the city from an untimely demise it had done nothing to provoke.

Before, Bubbles had actually cried each time she saw the cadavers of children and parents alike tossed unceremoniously on the ground. She had fainted at the sight of so much blood and rubble of fallen buildings strewn across the landscape.  
She had seen it too many times to cry anymore though and she found her eyes despite their redness and pain, to be as dry as desert. The barrage of thoughts and memories running through her sore head grew too strong, and Bubbles collapsed on the bed.

But something inside her had changed that day. Something that meant her smile would never again be so carefree as it once was. It was growing tiresome. The act of having to fight and fight every single day, with not a day to rest was growing old. It had long grown past being a nightmare in her dreams by now. Now, all it did was prompt a deep sigh.

A sigh that did nothing to disguise the disgust that Bubbles still felt towards so much wanton destruction.

Things could not stay as they were in any case. It was anyone's guess as to how many more dead bodies and piles of rubble being ripped apart by razor claws and dagger like fangs, that Bubbles could stomach before she was driven in a armored truck to the asylum where she would be fastened with cold shackles to a wall.  
She was sure her sisters felt the same way. She was certain that even Buttercup who bragged on and on about how she loved fights, and violence was beginning to dread this soulless routine by now and that even she would be relieved when they could see just one day where no violence or gore plagued the city and they could rest easy knowing there would be peace and security for at least that one day if not longer.

But that began with getting people to listen to her, which despite her revered status as a hero alongside her sisters, was easier said than done especially when Buttercup called her "crybaby" and Blossom made their father mr Professor leave the hall light on for her on account of her fear of the dark. Also not helping was how every disaster that befell the team, Bubbles was always likely to get the brunt of the blame. Even when in fact, Buttercup or Blossom had made the main blunder, some if not most of the fault was bound to be thrown onto her.

Bubbles didn't mind. They were her beloved sisters and she did not feel insulted by their comments. It was a slight disappointment sometimes knowing that she would not be taken as seriously as she should by the team but she had learned to live with it by now.  
But it wasn't just her sisters who needed to start taking her plans for Townsville to heart, the entire town needed to work with her if there was to be any drastic change.

And to Bubbles's chagrin as sleep overtook the fatigued blonde kindergartner, that could only mean one thing for her to do next.

 _ **Thank you so much fellow ppg fans for reading. It warms my heart so much to see people still caring about this show and showing so much attention to this story which honestly took me a lot of sleepless nights to think up and get out to you guys. I honestly feel that the question of why the mayor, incompetent as he is, is allowed to stay in power when he treats the town like crap. Anyway thanks everyone for reading. It took me a lot of work to write this and any comments for support would be really, really appreciated. What do you think I could do better? What do you think will happen now that Bubbles feels these hurtful feelings towards the man in charge of the chaos filled city she has lived in her whole life? I would really like to hear your thoughts about these things down in the comments section below. But anyhow, I will see you in the next chapter. Buh bye until next time.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Bubbles woke up shuddering in disgust at the terrible things she knew she was about to have to do.  
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she walked downstairs to find Blossom and Buttercup with their eyes glued to a cartoon they had found.

Bubbles sighed as she gently tapped Blossom on the shoulder.  
Blossom continued to stare fixatedly at the screen. It was clear whatever they were watching was good.  
But Bubbles could not wait this time. What she had to do had to be done now.

She tapped Blossom harder so that Blossom could not help but notice.  
"Yes Bubbles?" she asked apolagetically turning to face her blonde sister "What's wrong?".

Bubbles resisted the urge to ask what the lovely cartoon on telivision was. Now wasn't the time for distractions.

"We need to talk Blossom" said Bubbles sadly, her pleading voice hardly louder than a whisper despite her best efforts.  
"It's important. Very important" she added, taking the words out of her sister's mouth. She knew her sister would want to put the topic aside for later, but by then, Bubbles might have forgotten what to say.  
It had to be now, that they talked.

"Ugh, Bubbles can't you see we're trying to take some time off with a movie" growled Buttercup, the commotion having disturbed her attention on the set. "Bubbles says its important." replied Blossom "We should probably listen to what she has to say."

"Can it really not wait?".  
Bubbles shook her head. "No. It can't."

"Fine then!" pouted Buttercup as she very reluctantly took her eyes off the action movie she had spent the last half an hour glued to, and even more reluctantly tapped the pause button on the remote. "But be quick. I want to see what happens next." She frowned as she followed her sisters upstairs to their bedroom where Bubbles had asked them to talk in private, so that Professor could not see or hear them. "Not that Bubbles says anything important ever anyway." she mumbled to herself annoyed, as she took a space on the bed they shared and sat down.

Bubbles sat facing her two sisters on one side of the bed while they sat side by side on the other.  
She glanced briefly to check they were making eye contact with her before she began. She knew deep in her heart that this conversation could not end well, but she managed to speak without stuttering.  
She couldn't show weakness in front of her two sisters if they were to take her seriously thiis time,  
especially not Buttercup who was bound to want to get her own word in.

"Blossom"  
"Yes Bubbles?" "Do you think Mr Mayor is a nice man?"

Of all the questions Blossom could have expected, this was not one she could have thought to ever have to answer. The shocking fact that it came from the gentle natured and innocent sister only made the words pierce even deeper.

"Why do you ask Bubbles?" Blossom replied nervously "Did he do something to upset you?"  
Bubbles shook her head.  
"Then why do you want to know?" demanded Buttercup impatiently. This had gone on long enough and she was more than eager to end this pointless conversation here and now so she could go back downstairs to continue the movie.

"Why won't you just answer?" asked Bubbles, a quiet anger brewing in her otherwise calm and collected voice.  
"Do you think Mr Mayor is a nice man?"

"He's the mayor of the town Bubbles, of course he's a nice man." assured Blossom, shocked that her own sister seemed all of a sudden to have changed her attitude towards the man they had been taking orders from since as far back as they remembered. It was part of everything they stood for, and Bubbles was questioning it all.

"That's not what you said before." sighed Bubbles, before Blossom could think of anything more to say.  
She had sensed the advantage and she was not about to let Blossom regain the upper hand.  
For once, Bubbles would be the one doing the talking and Blossom would just have to keep quiet and listen until she had finished. Blossom would expect the same for her when she had orders to give, but now was not her time to give orders.

"That doesn't sound like what you used to say about Mr Mayor at all." declared Bubbles, pointing accusingly at Blossom as if she was a judge in a courtroom delivering a sentence.  
"What did you say about Mr Mayor before?"

Blossom felt as if a knife had been put to her neck. The room seemed to drop several degrees in temperature as her sister's frown became fiercer with every word.  
This didn't sound like the Bubbles she knew and loved at all.  
These were the words of some crazed lunatic trying to turn others against a harmless altruist who they themselves alone harboured a grudge against.  
Surely Bubbles knew the meaning of being a powerpuff girl?

"Are you alright Bubbles?" asked Blossom worriedly "Did something bad happen to you. It's alright Bubbles,  
tell us about it and we can try and make it better..."  
"Don't change the subject" barked the blonde girl, cutting Blossom off mid sentence. "You wouldn't like it if I ignored you when you wanted me to listen to something important you wanted to say so stop ignoring me."

Bubbles glared angrily at Blossom and then Buttercup, who had so far listened in complete silence.  
"You never listen to anything I have to say. Do you think that's fair. Do you think that's nice?"  
"It's not as if you ever say anything important anyway" whispered Buttercup under her breath but clearly not quietly enough.

"You keep saying how Blossom doesn't listen to you Buttercup. That you always think you'd be a better leader than her because you actually know how to lead. But what about me? What about when neither of you want to listen to me because you think you know better?  
Do you think it makes me feel good? Do you think that I like being treated like that by my two sisters who I'm supposed to be able to trust and talk to about my problems?  
Do you really think I'm not worth listening to? That I'm always wrong?"

She briefly felt a tinge of satisfaction at seeing the emotion she had finally managed to instill in her sisters as they hung their head down and avoided eye contact to let what they had heard sink in.  
She was tired of being treated as the "baby", especially when she was just as old as they were and had done at least as much for the family and town as they had.

"I'm sorry if we've made you feel that way Bubbles" Blossom eventually managed to say,  
visibly damaged by Bubbles's confession.  
"Yeah, what she said" grunted Buttercup scowling. While it was obvious Blossom felt some regret over what Bubbles had just told her, it was difficult to read whether Buttercup was in fact somewhat regretful, or simply annoyed at the delay to her movie.

"So what did you say about Mr Mayor before, when he didn't do anything to help us when we asked him to?" asked Bubbles, calm once more but still restless. She needed to know whether her sisters wanted to support her cause.

"Well I did say he wasn't the best mayor..." confessed Blossom "But I was just a bit angry that day"  
"No Blossom. You were right about him when you said he only cared about himself. He does only care about himself because he never does anything for the town. All he does is send us to do his work for him."

"And what would he be able to do anyway?" inquired Buttercup, taking a brief glimpse at the door before quickly averting her gaze back to her anguised sister.  
"Better police people might be a good start?" suggested Bubbles.

"But that's why he has us" protested Blossom. "We are his police teams Bubbles. We protect his city from danger because we work for him."  
"We don't work for him Blossom because he doesn't pay us anything. And we can't be there to help all the time.  
Not to mention he also does other bad things like, um, spending too much money on himself"

"But we can't just turn on him. That would go against everything we stand for." replied Blossom angrily.  
"So stop thinking like that Bubbles. I know its hard work protecting the city but its what we have to do.  
So please Bubbles. Just calm down. I'm sure you're overreacting."

She nodded apolagetically and left. "We'll be downstairs if you need us Bubbles. Feel free to join us too if you want."  
"Thanks for wasting our time." whispered Buttercup as she left after Blossom.

Bubbles knew from the moment this talk began that her sisters would not help her.

For a moment she felt tempted to believe that Blossom was right and to forget this stupid idea, but the dead children lining the asphalt as the monster rampaged across the city leaving a pool of blood brought her back to her senses.

She knew that she was on her own, but she would do what she had to.  
She would not let more innocent lives be lost because no one dared to lift a finger to change what need to be changed, simply to keep things the way they were used to.

She silently glided from the bedroom, downstairs and glanced towards the lounge to check she was not being watched before dashing for the kitchen.  
She knew she had to be quick for if her sisters caught her, her plan would be over before it started.

Knowing this, she nabbed a duffel bag from under a table before tearing upon the fridge and cupboard systematically.

She emerged from the house silently, a few cans of jerky and fruit in her sack as well as a bottle of water.  
These would suffice, and being weighed down and unable to outrun or in her case, out-fly her siblings or anyone else who was bound to come after her for that matter wasn't a risk the young heroine was prepared to take.

She glanced back once more to check no one had noticed her yet before soaring away, using the clouds that had gathered in the sky as cover as she flew for the nearby woods.

 **Apologies that this chapter took so long to get out. Recently I've had a real writers block and lots of important exams have been getting in the way too.  
Thanks for all the feedback I've been getting. It feels good to see my efforts being appreciated. I'm new to writing and I honestly appreciate any feedback and help you guys could give me.  
Please, please comment. I really do want to hear your thoughts on how you feel this story has been going, and how you fell things will play out. How do you feel Bubbles should react to her sister's indifference to how mr mayor has been abusing the city and its suffering people? I would now like to hear your opinions and how you feel this tale has been unfolding.  
I am Zman 123 and I will see you in the next chapter coming soon. **


	3. It begins

The forest. The nondescript patch of trees bordering the city to the south, some distance away from the tall, impressive skyscraper mister Mayor had his office in.

A quiet, peaceful place where a serene silence filled the air, in stark contrast to the bustling noises that Bubbles had become accustomed to in the city, with or without the monsters wrecking it up to worsen the din.

It was here that she could sit undisturbed and untroubled by anyone since no one would come looking for her here. Here she could clear her thoughts and mind so that she could focus more clearly on what really mattered.

Bubbles found a cozy spot in the clearing to sit, where the gentle breeze played with her hair as she sat down and began to chew on the jerky she had brought with her and continued to weigh her options, now free from the ruckus and howls of the city and that loud and rambunctious action movie Buttercup had just put on downstairs.

Speaking to her sisters about her growing concerns had yielded nothing but scorn and apathy. She wasn't surprised, but she really hoped that they might as her sisters, take her worries to heart slightly more seriously.

It wasn't likely therefore, that the professor would be much better. Not that he could do much even if he tried, especially since half the city still shunned him for being a socially awkward shut in. The story of how good a father he had been to Bubbles and her sisters over the years, how he had raised them as his own might never be heard sadly.

She had worried that things would take a turn in this direction from the very beginning but now she was becoming increasingly convinced that this was the one and only way to turn. It sounded silly and ridiculous but the longer Bubbles had thought on it over the past years, the more right and humane the plan that was now brewing in her troubled mind seemed.

Mr Mayor did not care for the well-being of the people simply put. A selfish man that put the interests of big business and himself before those of the city he was supposed to lead and care for.

The poorly trained and equipped police teams who could not even stop a carjacker as he stole the car right in front of their faces, the poor behavior people like and the general lack of law and order in an already chaotic city where the citizens were as cruel to each other sometimes as the monsters threatening the city. Some people were even discriminated against and harassed simply because of the color of their skin.

Bubbles took one look at the mayor's office which loomed ominously and darkly over the many other skyscrapers in the city.

She knew what had to be done now, and she was prepared to follow her plan to the letter.

She would start tommorow, she thought as she flew back home, gliding silently through the open window her sisters always left for her, and settled down on her place on the bed to sleep.

It was going to be a long and difficult day.

A surprisingly quiet day it was. Breakfast passed without event, save a brief pep talk of how Bubbles had wandered off so hastily yesterday without an explanation and how they were glad she had gotten over her anger yesterday.

Midday came, and still no sign of any major disaster in the city or call from the mayor. Yet.

After making sure that the professor had gone out for the day and that her sisters had left the house to enjoy the peace and serenity of an undisturbed day where the city was safe, Bubbles sat down at the computer the professor had in his study, and began to type and type.

Letter after letter, word after word, Bubbles mashed the keys as she scratched her head and thought about what to type next even as she finished another paragraph.

Finally it was finished and taking one glance to see that she was still not being watched yet, Bubbles grabbed a large stack of papers and jammed them hard into the printer.

She briefly hesitated but her stare hardened and her trembling arms steadied as she closed her eyes, and ordered the printer to print as many copies of the poster she had just spent all afternoon working on, as it could do.

Paper flew around and around the room, flooding the study with copy after copy of the document that Bubbles had spent what seemed like her whole life dreaming up.

Thoughts that never surfaced, which she had slid under the rug hoping they'd go away one day where things were better.

But Bubbles knew she could hold nothing back now. They didn't know how this felt. Knowing that the next day, however hard they fought to defend the city and by extension the innocent people from a gruesome fate they did not deserve, they'd just be back where they started when it all happened again. And again, and again.

And something in Bubbles's soul that day, told her she couldn't afford to not care anymore.

That permanent changes needed to take place to ensure horrible tragedies like the ones she and her sisters had had to endure for how long she had forgotten, could finally become things of the past.

Bubbles had not signed the posters. She did not want any accusations thrown at her door before she found out whether the citizens of the city she wanted to help really felt the same way or not.

This way she could always call off this stupid idea, if it turned out her concerns were indeed a delusion, and no one really did support her ideals.

Grabbing a reel of tape, and as large a stack of the papers as she could carry, she darted out of her house and towards the city park, which she knew would be totally deserted until the afternoon.

She would spend a little time here before moving on to the suburbs, and if she had time before her sisters caught on, outside the mall.

But this was just the beginning, sighed the exhausted blonde girl sadly to herself as she wiped cold sweat from her face.

 **Thank you fans of ppg once more for reading. I greatly appreciate the time you've taken to enjoy this piece of writing I took a long time and a lot of work to think up. Sorry about the grammar errors if there are any. If you enjoyed this work which honestly took me a lot of thought to conjure up, a nice comment down in the comment section would be so nice for support. What do you think could have been done better? How do you think Bubbles's plan will unfold next? How do you think things will or should play out next. Answer by commenting. As always I will see you in the next chapter. Buh bye!**


	4. Slow start

"It appears something odd is happening Mr Mayor" announced the tall red haired woman as she slowly stepped into the room, to stand by a short, white haired man seated lazily at his desk.

He yawned. "What is it now?" he asked, clearly not too interested since for once no screams of terror were ringing out across his town, and as far as he could see from his window, the buildings seemed fine enough.

"It's a terrible situation." the woman explained "And it needs to be dealt with right now."

He yawned again, and scratched his head. Whatever it was, it really couldn't be as bad as large man eating monsters rampaging across the city about to devour him again. How he hated monsters and how grateful he was to have 3 young heroes protecting him, better yet that he didn't even have to pay them anything for their services. He barely had enough money left for himself as it was.

"Well what is it?" he asked, this time more impatiently. It was obvious to him that his assistant was overreacting since he clearly could see nothing wrong with the city on this peaceful, uneventful day. "Go on, out with it already?"

The woman nodded as she began her report to the mayor of the city. "Earlier this morning on my way to your office, I saw a group of young children angrily prowling about on the street, even though as you know the streets in this city are very dangerous because of traffic."  
"I stopped and asked them what was wrong. In response they shouted that they wanted an end to their mayor and started yelling insults about you sir. Then they started yelling insults at me as well, and started throwing stones and I had to drive off quickly."

"Well, that's no big deal." sighed the man, shaking his head and stretching. "Kids these days have no manners anyway. I'm sure those were just a particularly unpleasant bunch of children who were just having an off day."

"It didn't end there, I'm afraid. When I went past the town square, there were a group of older men and women saying the sames things about you, and that your bad decisions are what caused the disasters in the city to be as bad as they were. They were really frenzied and there was something in their eyes that just didn't seem right. When I tried to question them, they yelled at me to leave them alone. Though I did notice that one of them seemed to be reading from a paper of some sort as I turned away."

At this the older man's almost closed eyes opened just a fraction wider, as he frowned somewhat. Perhaps this was slightly more serious than he first thought since this meant someone was bringing up some kind of accusation against him, probably as a smear campaign of some sort. For a moment he considered opening his mouth to reply, but thinking back to how for a long time now no one had even run against him in the elections brought him back to his comfort zone and he let the matter drop by telling the assistant to get on with her duties for the day after thanking her briefly for her report.

No one had challenged his rule ever. And he was certain that he had the people of his city by his side no matter what would happen.  
By tomorrow morning the vagabond running this silly protest would probably have given up after realizing they wouldn't be able to turn anyone else against their mayor. Whoever this was, it was clear they were a loony off their rocker since who didn't love their mayor who no one ran against.

He chuckled heartily, before leaning back into his chair with his eyes closed. This job really put a strain on an old man like him.

From the safety of an alley, Bubbles watched silently as the papers she had stuck on the walls from yesterday were being stared out by a crowd that seemed to grow larger and larger by the second. Some of the ones less well glued had even been ripped off and taken away.

She saw that her risky plan was beginning to come into effect, and people were beginning to realize how incompetent of a job Mr Mayor was doing in keeping the city safe, and that someone desperately needed to step in and replace him for things to get better.

But this was also where things got delicate since if she was found out now, the best she could expect other than a prison sentence for open mutiny, was to be silenced so that she couldn't give away any more secrets or dirt she had on the mayor.

She didn't want to feed the people with lies, she simply wanted to tell the complete, unabridged truth of how Mr Mayor was not helping the city as he was and how from past experience, she knew he was putting the interests of himself and his luxuries over the people so that a large proportion of his populace walked hungry on the street cold and weak, while he basked in glory in his large mansion he had by his elaborately furnished office.

"The police and military forces of the city are weak and poorly trained " she had written. "Even Carjackers committing a robbery in front of policemen are able to run away without any consequences and a lot of officers don't even have weapons or know how to hold their guns the right way. This is not the way this city should be and we must act now for there to be any drastic change."

"The horrible attacks against the city get worse every day as the monsters and crime gangs of the world grow stronger and stronger. If there is no drastic change these might be the last days for Townsville."

She nodded, as she saw the spreading discontent among the citizens who had began to realize and understand her point as she slipped out of her hiding place and slunk back to the professor's house to ask if her sisters wanted to go for a walk in the park now that there were no present threats.

It would take a while for anything really decisive to occur, and she needed to be patient and to lie low.

This was for the people and their well being and safety, she reminded herself. Its for the children, and not because I don't like Mr Mayor at all.  
But this has to be done.

 **Sorry once again about the delay in releasing this chapter. My writer's block has sadly been getting a lot worse in these past few weeks what with all the stresses of life I've sadly had to deal with, especially with the university exams on the way.  
So do you like the concept of this story and how Mr Mayor's reputation is finally beginning to take a hit thanks to our young revolutionary eager to help the city and fight for justice? Do you believe there is anything that should have been addressed or elaborated on earlier in this story that wasn't. And do you feel things will take a turn for the better or worst thanks to Bubbles's extreme interventions? After spending once again many sleepless nights trying very hard to get another chapter of this as quickly as I could to you kind guys, I would really like to hear your opinions on "Mayor over". Thanks, and please leave a comment to hopefully speed up release of the next chapter.**


	5. The unfortunate catch

Bubbles knew that there really was no going back now. She had made a plan and now she had to follow it through, she thought as she put up another stack of papers on another wall she had found. She had sneaked out early this morning so that she could continue her work before her sisters woke, since today was a school day.

She only just managed to dart back to her spot on the bed after hastily taping the last of the papers in the stack she carried, before the alarm rang.

Groggy and weak from lack of sleep, Bubbles clumsily glided down the stairs almost colliding with a wall as she reached the kitchen where the professor had just finished putting the final touches to a simple breakfast that seemed to contain eggs and some marmalade covered bread.

"Bubbles, did you not sleep well last night. You look tired." he noted, raising an eyebrow. Unable to bring herself to think up a lie on the spot in front of the professor, she simply shrugged as she drifted into her chair and began trying to raise her energy levels for the busy day of school ahead as best she could, trying very hard not to make a mess despite how her poor sight made everything seem blurry.

Her sisters soon followed her into the room, and sat beside her to eat, giving her curious looks when they saw how her head seemed to lurch from one side to another and her eyes were barely open, and even seemed a bit red. She once again shrugged, realizing that unlike the crafty Blossom or even Buttercup when they needed an excuse for one reason or another, she was sadly not a good liar.

"Bubbles, tell us what's wrong. You don't look well and we just want to help you." Blossom eventually asked, breaking the silence that had settled over the table this morning at breakfast. Bubbles gazed up at Blossom slowly, and Blossom stared back, clearly getting more impatient by the second. And Bubbles shook her head sadly, too deep in her thoughts to think of anything to reply.

"Is there something bothering you, Bubbles?" Blossom asked once again.

Another shake of the head.

"Just leave her alone Blossom, I'm sure its nothing and we'll be late if we don't finish eating." Buttercup stated, intervening before any further interrogation could take place.

Blossom gave Bubbles another worried glance, but nonetheless dropped the matter and continued nibbling into her bread.

The bus came soon enough, as the three sisters quickly washed their faces and proceeded to sprint outside, bundling quickly into the rundown and tacky old yellow vehicle so as to get a seat where they could sit together.

Bubbles sang no joyful song to entertain herself as the bus slowly drove forward towards school. She paid no heed to the conversations the other passengers were having about the fireworks display three days from now. She ignored Blossom when her sister tapped her arm, clearly trying to get her to give up the cold shoulder, her only protection against her plan being outed.

Instead she began to think. Even if the tensions against the mayor escalated enough for some sort of riot to occur, it would mean that mayor had won. If her plan was to succeed, she had to not only convince the citizens who already had it out for the man, but the so called "bad guys" who were very likely to still be against anything she had planned. It was ironically they who held the power to really decide what would really be the future of Townsville, even after the mayor stepped down if he did.

This meant convincing them that if she did eventually manage to take the shot at the next elections and then somehow succeed, that she would give them a far more fair and honest treatment than mayor would ever be able to. That her changes which she had planned for if she did somehow take charge, would benefit not only the city they would likely still hate for some time ,but would give them what each of them wanted deep down truly and honestly.

The Gangreen gang for instance wanted a way to make a living while still doing legitimate business which would give them better relations with the people who despised them solely because of their skin color and ungentlemanly mannerisms from lack of educatio and most likely a tragic childhood they refused to talk about or share.

Morbucks, the spoiled rich girl who was a fellow student as well as a common antagonist for her and her sisters, just wanted to be noticed. To be given attention and credit for the contributions she made, whether they were good or bad. But most of all, a good friend who was ready to talk to her calmly and patiently, taking her crap as she vented out her feelings until she eventually began to feel better about herself so that she felt no need to brag anymore and could start being her own person. Which was probably at least to Bubbles, a fairly modest and frisky girl with only a few bad ideas.

Mojo needed to know that he was missed and valued by the professor still. To realize that he had done good in the past, even if it was only due to a fluke accident. To come to terms with how the girls were as much his family as the Rowdyruff boys who he later created as a ploy to get back at the professor and prove himself superior. And lastly he needed to accept that family watched each other's backs, and gave each other a second chance even if they didn't agree on everything.

The rest of the many characters questionable in moral standing, Bubbles would take in account later but for now all she needed to know was that though they would be more difficult to persuade, their influence on how everything would play out was too great to be ignored. Princess in particular had the power to seriously swing the eventual result by a gigantic leap, but Bubbles didn't want simple bribery to be the decider for the eventual winner in the battle for control.

Though occasionally such tactics had to be used, Bubbles hoped she didn't need it.

And anyhow she would first have to make princess drop the hatred she had built against in particular against Buttercup over the years they sold short her request to be another member of their superhero team because of mostly Buttercup's pride and vanity, and Blossom's stubborness to see changes occur, and to accept that the status quo was not god. She would have been quite glad to have princess as their first additional member, it could have set the benchmark for other children willing to stand up against injustice to come and join the fight, and those nice gadgets Princess had used in her first, and later fights against them did seem awfully useful and shiny.

"Princess was right about one thing." Bubbles secretly admitted to herself when she felt for sure no one was listening in "You can buy superpowers with money. Really good ones actually. It might be useful if we had some of those nice machines. We might not need chemical x after all for finding new recruits since chemical x is really hard to find. and really dangerous and risky."

But who was she to talk. Blossom would probably just undermine her idea, stating that they three were good enough to handle threats by themselves, and that any "artificial powers" were an insult to what a Powerpuff stood for.

It was clear to Bubbles that Blossom had dozed away during the section of the lesson where the teacher explained the concept of many modern foods such as noodles, drinks and even organically grown oranges had been made available by artificial means and that without many of these products, life as we knew it would be very different indeed.

So was Blossom sharing in Buttercup's silly vendetta just because Princess was a new face that had made a slightly bad first impression. Bubbles might never know.

But now the bus was pulling up in the driveway by the Pokey Oaks kindergarten, and the students were screaming Yay as they ran from the crowded vehicle, three at a time so that they almost jammed up in the doorway. "Time" Blossom announced, as she too rushed out, with Buttercup quickly following.

Bubbles nodded briefly to show she understood, before following their example, albeit somewhat slowly since she was still engrossed in her thoughts of what was to come.

As she slowly stepped towards the decaying edifice that was her main school building, she was disturbed by an interesting argument that had gotten underway between a large group of students, who appeared not to care that they were speaking loud enough to be heard from quite a distance away.

"I'm glad some grown up or whoever finally found the guts to stand up to that selfish man" a young brunette stated smugly "Sometimes I'd wish I could have done it myself. I really don't like him." She sighed. "If only I was old enough."

"Yeah. I'm with you." A tall boy with glasses replied. "Mr Mayor really needs to go. He's fat, he's ugly and he keeps making bad ideas which get me mad. One time he even evicted my parents from our shop, so he could tear it down and put in a tanning salon there which he only used for himself. That man really has no idea what running a city is about. I mean look at our police teams, oh wait, what police teams? I don't see any police teams, or if I do, they suck." There was a seething, but quiet anger in his voice.

"I'm sure if he treated some of the people better, we wouldn't have half the amount of problems that we have now." a third speaker, a short blonde boy chimed in. "This rebellion fighter really knows what they're talking about. I'd love to meet them."

"They're brave, they stand for what they know is right, and in general I think they would certainly make a much better man in charge than the one we have now." Yet another glasses boy shouted, as he walked over to join the circle where this interesting conversation was underway. "I really think that even Che Gue, Che whats his name would be proud of what they're doing now. It's good to see that even in these bleak modern times, we have people that agree with Che, and are willing to take risks."

Bubbles would have loved to stay and listen. She was happy that her sleepless nights spent gluing flyer after flyer around the city, had not been wasted. She had been doing this 3 nights in a row by now, knowing that it would be harder to evade the attention of her sisters during the day.

This was a start, but not enough to draw Mr Mayor out just yet. But it was indeed good to see other children, especially ones in the same school as her agreeing with her, even if they were young like her and powerless to really do anything since they could not even vote yet.

But Bubbles was indeed familiar with the old saying, look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves. And even small rebellions led by weak, non affluent children who no one listened to, could well mean the difference later when push came to shove.

But now the bell rang, signalling that she and by extension the other children had dawdled outside for far too long. Miss Keane, their kindly teacher did not punish harshly, but Bubbles really preferred not to upset so nice a teacher. Even if Blossom was technically "the smart one" of the group, she too was just as invested in a good education. She hoped Buttercup felt the same way, since good marks in tests led to a good job and by extension a good life.

The lesson dragged on uneventfully. Bubbles did her best to put her thoughts aside as she scribbled note after note into her notebook as the teacher wrote them onto the board. She glanced over to see Buttercup, head down and slumped into her desk. She shook her head. This would really come back to bite her sister later in life when she got a constant streak of bad marks.

And weren't bad marks the reason why many people turned to crime in the first place, when they didn't get a good job.

Once in a while, a student would discreetly toss an paper plane at another when the teacher was facing the board and the other student would catch it and briefly giggle when they had read what was written on the plane. Bubbles did her best to ignore this distraction, until one such plane zoomed by and landed hard on her face, grazing her with a small paper cut where the sharp tip hit her cheek before she could catch it.

Bubbles glanced quickly up, to check that no important notes were left for her to take down before very cautiously unfolding the piece of paper. Why wasn't she surprised when she read the words "Mr Mayor is a no neck chump who isn't worth the space he takes up".

She glanced back at the thrower, a mischievous looking redhead, and nodded solemnly to show she understood and agreed before quickly opening her textbook to the page the teacher had specified in the time she had spent distracted. It was a good thing the teacher's back was turned to the board while all this happened.

Soon enough, lunch came and as Bubbles expected when she stepped in the dining area, Princess the rich girl in the school sat faced away from the large group that had gathered in a center table. She clearly took no interest in the recent going on's, and didn't care one way or another.

But Bubbles guessed that if it came to a vote, she would either try to claim the position of mayor for herself or if that failed, she would most likely play devil's advocate and do anything to sabotage Bubbles's campaign as a way of retaliating.

Princess needed to be won over, but not in a violent battle where her and her sisters ruthlessly pummeled her into the ground and left her to be locked in a cold dark cell.

It was time this silly rivalry came to a close.  
But Princess would not be the only rival Bubbles would need to contend with.

There would be a lot of others trying to seize the advantage in the power vacuum that would no doubt remain if Bubbles stripped the mayor of his power. And as hard as it was to say this to herself, it was every competitor for themselves here.

A firm approach would be useful here. A firm but fair approach that was. The so called "enemies" her sisters and her had been forced to deal with had seen enough mistreatment and being misunderstood. It was time to give them their cut in of the cake.

And though Bubbles knew pity was not something she was meant to feel for a snobby jerk who constantly demanded attention for their misdeeds, pity was what Bubbles felt as she saw the lonely, vacant emptiness in Princess's narrowed eyes.

It was difficult to imagine Princess being surrounded by other children cheering her name. Hard to think of her being tossed up in the air, as citizens sung her praises. To see her shaking hands with Buttercup to put their differences aside, and to watch as they fought side by side against a common adversary rather than against each other, watching each other's backs like they might have done if Blossom hadn't been so resistant to the idea of a new addition to their already formidable team.

But Bubbles was confident it could be done. She wasn't the biggest fan of history but she had not forgotten the story of the united nations, her favorite lesson till this day.

Since surely if countries so diverse, that had gone through a long and bloody war could put their differences aside to find peace and common ground, why couldn't the many citizens of Townsville learn to do the same if it made the city a safer and happier place.

 _ **Thanks once more for reading. I apologize once more for the long delay but sometimes the hardships of life, and that nasty writer's block that keeps on coming to bite me again and again sometimes makes things difficult. So thank you guys for persevering with me and believing in me and adorable little Bubbles when we try our hardest to make Townsville a better and happier place.**_

 _ **So once again, thank you all and you know... A nice comment down in the comment's section would be really good for support.**_

 _ **I would also like to hear your thoughts of what you think could have gone better, what you think the outcome of Bubbles's hastily made plan will be and whether you think the dream of Princess and Buttercup finally becoming friendlier with each other will ever come to light.**_

 _ **Please answer by commenting, and thank you once again.**_


	6. Going viral Going global

Bubbles avoided eye contact with her sisters as they walked together towards the bus that would take them home after a long exhausting day in school. She didn't know how Blossom and Buttercup felt since they did not have to deal with the stress of planning what the next part of a very delicate plan should be.

Placing posters around parts all over the city had turned out better than she had hoped, and it was good to see that others did agree with her after all. But it was only a start. More needed to happen before any drastic action would be taken.

She had thought and thought the entire day about what to do next, even as she sat silently in class managing to scribble down everything on the board despite her mind having to be in two places at once. She needed more than just a few insignificant pieces of paper with writing on them to really make the city start taking her ideas more seriously, but it wasn't time to out herself just yet.

If anything, this would be the worst time to be discovered as the culprit spreading rebellious sentiment among the city folk, since not even her sisters would support her cause if she revealed herself now.

She needed something more to raise awareness of her cause, and how much good it would do everyone.

The idea of creating a website took a long, silent bus trip home and then some hours spent sat silently in front of the compute the professor had in his private office after making sure that he was sat glued to the television downstairs and her sisters had decided to turn into their room for an early nap before supper.

The blonde girl thought and thought for a while, as she clicked a few buttons switching from this website to the next, not really knowing what to do next. Either way she thought she had enough posters for a while, and besides if she used up anymore paper the Professor would get suspicious.

It was then that she saw that at at the top of the webpage she had just looked up to see some adorable kittens, had a number displaying the number of views it had gotten since it was up. 2 hundred million, it read. And it had only been up for 2 weeks at most, from what Bubbles was told.

"Sometimes Blossom underestimates me." she sighed, as she logged herself into a well-known web design engine she had heard about from one of the more technology loving children at school, who had shown an interested Bubbles the basics of how to create games, documentaries and even a simple communication device using this system. Bubbles had really enjoyed the conversation, but had never really had time to make use of her newly learned skills, since saving the day always interfered with how much free time she really had.

Bubbles realized that trying her best to stay on good relationships with every boy and girl in her school and class as eccentric and different as they were to her, was about to pay off as she quickly began to tap at the keys, keeping a close eye on the door behind her lest she was spotted.

"Website upload" she announced eventually, after what seemed like hours but was in reality only 25 minutes with how quickly she hit the keys on the keyboard.

The website was nothing special, but it would do in a pinch for a small online billboard of sorts where those who opposed the mayor could freely post their thoughts anonymously, calling themselves whatever they wanted and writing down what they wanted for all to see.

Bubbles had added a few of her own thoughts in, as a way of kick starting the debate of what should be done next if Townsville's government was to be improved in any way.

Then she quickly walked downstairs and sat down to read a book, to while away the time that still divided her and dinner time, where she would need to keep her cool once more in front of her sisters who still needed to be oblivious to her plan for it to work later

The family event passed peacefully enough, Bubbles becoming bubblier and more talkative once more now that she was a bit more relieved that her plan had at least a fighting chance of success.

They talked mostly about the surprisingly long period of peace that had ensued since the last major attack on the city and how it would most likely not last, and that the monsters were probably planning something very nasty with this time and that the next attack would probably be far worse than anything they had encountered for a while.

"It won't if I can help it." Bubbles let out, clenching her finger-less hand and slamming it on to the table in a sudden fit of passion.

"Really now..." remarked a slightly surprised Buttercup "then you should have nothing to worry about when they get here."

"I'm not a scaredy cat" protested Bubbles, arms crossed. She had gotten over her fear of the darkness some time ago, though Buttercup still often teased her for it much to her chagrin.

"Well its good to see you still take your job seriously Bubbles and that you're feeling better now" Blossom chimed in. "It's difficult, but there really isn't any other way for Townsville."

Bubbles nodded grimly, but knew deep in her heart that her sister was wrong in every sense of the word wrong.

Blossom was a smart leader and good at devising clever strategies, but it was impossible to admit that she like Buttercup, was a tad short sighted and narrow minded.

Not to mention somewhat vindictive and antisocial around people she wasn't familiar with, as of the Princess incident.

Sometimes this saved the group from life threatening situations, but Bubbles really was beginning to wonder if Blossom was being a bit too paranoid for her own good, since the only way to find new friends was to be open and ready to hear them out.

But these were thoughts for later, Bubbles whispered to herself as she joined back into the discussion her sisters were having of what kind of terrible catastrophe might be awaiting them when the monsters did come back as they no doubt eventually would, briefly lapsing into their opinions of this unknown rebellion fighter who was planting all kinds of dirt against the mayor.

Whoever was doing that was either delusional, or simply very determined since no one had challenged mayor's rule for at least decades now. So far no one had been caught, revealed Blossom, but authorities claimed that it was only a matter of time.

"If they can't even stop a carjacker whose stealing a car right in front of them, I highly doubt that they'll be finding anything any time soon" thought Bubbles sarcastically.

"Well whoever this idiot is, and whatever he wants, he's stupid if he thinks he can accomplish anything" snorted Buttercup. "And he should know that if we find him, the only thing he'll be getting is a fist in his face. I'm sure it'd be one entertaining fight"

Bubbles twitched slightly at the thought of being smashed in the face by her own sister and teammate. Especially since she had seen Buttercup in action more times than she could care to remember, and how dangerous Buttercup could be when provoked.

"Let's not jump to conclusions Buttercup" Blossom suggested "It might not be a criminal trying to plot revenge or put the city in danger. You never know. He just might be thinking that he's trying to do a good thing and maybe he just doesn't like Mr Mayor and that's all there is to it. I'm sure he's not as dangerous as they make him out to be."

Aside from the fact that the guy you're after isn't even a he, Blossom would be very close to the truth, Bubbles thought silently.

"Probably. But it's too early to say for sure" she noted, trying to appear not very interested.

"We should probably wait a bit more for more facts to surface before we go about pointing the finger at innocent Townsfolk" Blossom concluded, stifling a yawn as the hour was late and the food on the table was still left mostly untasted and beginning to cool.

"Let's just eat our dinner and get a early night before tomorrow. You never know what might be waiting for us then."

Bubbles sincerely hoped it was a angry group of protesters lined up at the mayor's office, demanding that things be changed around the city to make it a more fair and secure place than it was now.

But then, that was a very distant dream now, wasn't it.

She glumly bit at her dinner, and handed the plates the professor to be washed before heading upstairs with her sisters but not to sleep.

She couldn't afford to waste time sleeping for a while since night was unfortunately the time she could get away with the most without being spotted and called out.

She played quietly with her toy train for a while, as her sisters sat down with their own toys in hand to wait a while before lights out came.

Then when the brief playtime was up, she waited a while for her sisters to finish their turn in the bathroom before going in herself to brush her teeth.

"Nighty night" Bubbles told her sisters as she took her spot once more on the large bed they shared in their room, as they followed her example and responded in kind before the professor came and turned the lights off after giving each of them a brief hug.

But Bubbles did not go to sleep.

She lay still with her eyes closed, biting her lip slightly so that she did not drift off. She waited until she was certain she could hear the loud, content snores of her sisters before creeping out of bed cautiously once again, and tiptoeing into the room the professor kept the computer in. The very room she had been in this afternoon.

She glanced back to check that no one had noticed or followed her here before quietly turning the device back on, and backtracking to the website she had designed.

She did not expect such drastic change in such little time as a few hours.

"Finally someone who has the guts to stand up to the f****r, props to whoever made this. Xoxo. By the way sorry for my language." read one comment posted by one certain "Che 1337".

"This page is so informative, we should make everyone in Townsville come and read this. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so" said another comment, this time posted by a so called "Striker 60"

"Mr Mayor is a bad man and we agree with you that he needs to be put down" another unknown stranger known as "Papyru 95" had put further down the page.

"I'm with Papyru 95 on this one. Kudos for whoever put this page up. I completely support this." yet another anon had written, this one calling themselves "Alphy 17".

And those were just a few of the many posts, which Bubbles didn't have the time or energy to check every one of since there were so many already.

Bubbles was happy that she had created this webpage. A simple chat room where people who opposed the mayor could come together to share their opinions on what they thought should be done, and to celebrate the power of unity while seeing they were not alone in their concerns.

Now the people who were united in their opinion, were no longer alone and by allowing each person to pick a name for themselves, they could remain anonymous and at the same time Bubbles could tell how many potential followers she had gained who were ready to support her cause."

She had put her own name simply as "Rebel strika 91" so as to make it difficult to trace her identity, yet simultaneously so that she could be known by some kind of title by her newly gained followers who she could tell would soon be growing in number as the site got more and more popular.

She had made yet another important step, but still more needed to be done.

 _ **Thank you once more ppg fans for reading. I found that this chapter was harder still than the previous ones to type up because of how difficult it was to come up with new ideas on what should happen next.**_

 _ **These stories take a huge chunk of my time to write up and check, so um you know thanks so much for reading and liking. And a nice comment down in the comment section could be good for support. And trust me when I say I read and appreciate every single comment you guys make for me. And it's really good for me to hear your thoughts.**_

 _ **For instance, what do you think needs to be done next for Bubbles to finally succeed in her endevours? Will Bubbles be able to bring the city back to a better condition if she does succeed in stripping Mr Mayor of all his power. And what do you think the new Townsville will look like? I would like to hear your thoughts in the comments down below. So thank you and I will see you in the next chapter.**_


	7. The shady alleyways

Graffiti filled the walls of surfaces on just about every building the eye could see dotted around the rundown city. Biting remarks, some very simple yet others needlessly elaborate had been written clearly to send a message. "Power to the people." had been written in blood red spray on the marble column of a tall bridge, while "Mayor no more." had been sprayed onto the back wall of a hospital.

The less frequented and shady zones of the city had even become well visited venues for graffiti artists, each one trying to best the other in expressing the growing hatred and rage at the poor excuse for a leader of the city which had been bled drier with every passing day it seemed. Feelings that many had concealed deep down, resurfacing now that a strong leader whose identity remained yet shrouded in mystery had risen to gather them together against a common cause that they too shared with the mysterious figure.

And as the sun set, and darkness began to shroud the sky like a black carpet spreading over a white canvas, a hunched back figure in a large hooded jacket far too large for him crept silently through the shadows, surprisingly agile on his feet considering his lack of footwear.

He walked on and on, only stopping to crouch and turn away when he heard footsteps, praying that the hood in the jacket he had managed to salvage from a garbage bin from the dump would conceal the green on the skin in his unwashed face from any onlookers who would happen to be out and about at this time of day in an already bleak and hostile city which he was unlucky enough to find himself in.

He moved quickly, hunted by his fears, taking care not to step onto any one of the accountable number of broken bottles, pins, jagged edged cans and many other pieces of rubbish which had been scattered onto the alleyway ground. It wouldn't have been so bad if he was wearing shoes, but the pair of sneakers he had been wearing had been lost when in his desperation to take what looked like a deliciously iced slice of cheesecake from a young boy whose large muscular parents were quick to give chase to the thief.

He had almost shed tears of regret upon shoving the small, screaming figure onto the ground. But another look at the thin, trembling sticks he had for his arms and legs and another loud and dismal growl from his belly had driven him mad with anger.

A splitting headache that never seemed to go away caused him to momentarily grimace in pain, and he had broken out of all bounds.

He didn't care that the child who had fished the cheesecake and placed it on the bench they were seated on, was surrounded by a large group of people, many of them much larger than himself. He didn't care that while many of the large and muscular grown ups were wielding a variety of sports equipment like baseball bats and tennis rackets that he himself was not only without a weapon of any kind, but was so starved and weak that every step seemed to strain his muscles to their limit.

The only image in his mind, was the cheesecake and how yummy the icing on the yummy choice of dessert looked so scrumptious to him even from his position behind the bush. The longer he spent fixed on that beautiful cake, the more he felt a horrible itch come over him. An itch he could not suppress even as he clenched his fists and teeth, an itch he felt needed just had to scratch if he was to not go insane.

And with a furious roar, he had at last rushed out from his hiding place and despite his weakened state, managed to drag the child from their perch on the wooden bench and nab the cake as he left his frightened victim screaming on the ground as he made a dash for the nearest exit.

They were on him like an avalanche. "This guy's a child molesting creep, let's string him up." yelled a voice behind him in a gravelly, cold growl as he charged, brandishing the large iron golf club in his hand. He seemed to be the cue for the others to join, as suddenly several tall figures began dropping what they were doing as they dived into the fray, rushing in his direction.

He couldn't see them as he dared not take one glance back, but hastened for the wide open gate which was just before him, hoping to get the crowd confused in the maze of buildings once he left the open, flat grassy turf of the city park.

At least that was what he had hoped.

So desperate and single minded was he, in his frantic attempt to evade his pursuers that he had not noticed the odd positioning of his foot as it stepped onto a slightly loose part of his laces, and caused the entire knot tying the strings together to unravel as he continued to misjudge his steps in his blind panic. The now loosened shoe quickly as he continued to sprint forward, slower than he hoped because of the weakness still present in his feeble legs.

Suffice to say next, he tripped and fell dropping his ill gotten source of nourishment onto the cold and slimy pavement, still damp from the rainstorm he had been forced to weather yesterday.

It was only thanks to sheer luck that he managed to scramble back to his feet, and to continue to outpace the furious mob that was by now so close that he could almost feel the heavy weight of their stocky arms on his shoulders, though in doing so he had somehow managed to loosen the poorly tied knot in his remaining shoe which soon slid off his sweaty feet in a few steps.

Not able to spare a second, he continued to dash through the street running a red as traffic screeched to a halt only just avoiding the crazed beggar speeding through the crowded street as if suicide was his soul intention. But the red light though nearly killing him had bought him valuable seconds which he used to sprint into a dark alleyway and leap onto a conveniently placed rubbish bin before scrambling over a tall stony wall which divided him and the garbage dump which he knew would be totally deserted. Sure enough as he struggled to his feet and brushed himself down as best he could after landing roughly on his back, he didn't see another soul as he cautiously made his way between piles of stinking refuse.

He had returned to the secretive place behind an old warehouse he met with his only friends that night, barefooted and weak having had nothing to eat but a banana peel which he had forced himself to bite on, savoring every second the nasty odor hung in his mouth.

And that was where he was heading now, as he shuddered and pulled his jacked tighter, thankful to heaven that this discarded outfit at least had the zip intact.

He was fairly confident no one had followed him here, but paranoia left from the several times his assumptions had let him down forced him to take one final blinking glance back, paying especial attention to three colored sparks which were bound to want a piece of him should they clap eyes on him even briefly.

The only sound he could hear was his own breathing as for what seemed like the longest minute of his life, he peered back the way he came, not daring to move.

He allowed himself a weak pant of relief, before slowly slinking forward, stopping every few steps to check once more for any sign of movement.

It was only when he had closed the remaining distance between himself and the warehouse, and he heard the pitter patter of light and cautious footsteps which he knew belonged to his equally as unprivileged friends that he allowed himself to relax and sit down, confident that not even those three spoiled brats claiming to be "heroes for the city" would find them here.

They sat in awkward silence, communicating only through mime the terrible sensation of malnourished they all shared from having not eaten a proper meal in at least days.

It was only when one of them sighted a messy line of writing, painted in silver ink on the wall they had been leaning into to sit that they looked directly at each other each one as puzzled as the other.

Someone had been here, while they were away, trying to stay away from each other during the daylight hours lest one of them be captured and brought to jail along with the others accompanying him.

"The mayor needs to die. Die mayor die" it read, and beside it was a piece of paper glued to the wall. It had been significantly damaged by water but some of the writing was still legible.

"The mayor only cares about himself... doesn't treat everyone equally... doesn't care about everyone's safety" one of the more readable paragraphs seemed to read. "Need...stand up against him.. our rights..." another one of the less tattered parts of the large paper said.

The green skinned young man took a while to reflect on what his friend had just been looking at. And as he made out the very blurry words "join the fight. Stop injustice" at the bottom of the poster as well as a large photograph of the mayor yawning lazily at the top of the page, he allowed himself to crack a small grin.

Finally someone somewhere who didn't see him as a crazed lunatic when he ranted on and on about how much he loathed that evil man who had stripped him and his friends of almost all of the few rights they had. "The mayor. I accuse that man. That man stole the food from my mouth." he had managed to yell the last time the coppers dragged him into a holding cell where he spent the next 3 days gnawing his nails since the prisons here were too greedy to spare him anything that could be remotely called a meal, and he had been thrown into a dump at the back of the prison, which was already filled with stinking bodies when the officers found him one morning still and not moving and had luckily taken him for dead.

His excitement only grew as he saw sprayed onto another wall of what appeared to be a smaller warehouse, another line of writing this time reading "Freedom is coming. Very soon Mayor will be gone." .There were other messages painted onto the same building, but he had read and seen what he wanted.

It didn't matter if nothing happened for a while, since all he had to do now was to hold on. Whoever took charge next couldn't be worse than the lousy skinflint counting up his money in that cozy office with central heating and all the yummy food he was bound to be munching on, while he and his gang stood out in the freezing cold forced to weather insult after insult thrown at his door for various reasons but mostly because of the color of their skins.

"But it's not my fault I was born this way. I'm sorry, please forgive me." he had once tried pleading, only to be booed back into his alley as the group of townsfolk he was trying to entertain with a song and a bin which he was using as a drum turned on him once they realized where the sound of the song he was trying to sing came from.

No workplace would take them for an interview when they turned up, and revealed their green faces they had tried to conceal with hoodies they had somehow managed to find just for the occasion and they couldn't go back to school now that those nasty trio of do gooders had launched a smear campaign against them.

"Here take this." his friend interrupted his thoughts by tossing him a bag of chips, small but still satisfying and filling.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded, surprised as he was happy to finally have some proper food for a change."

"This girl, this girl saw me crying on the sidewalk this morning and she just tossed me these. Said she'd give me more but this is all she had."

"What else did she tell you?" he could not help asking, doing his best not to sound rude or angry since for once in his life he felt indebted.

"She says that things will be different soon. And then I think, well then she left. Said something about not blurting about it to her sisters or something, I don't know. Seemed in a bit of rush to get going or something."

The man scratched his chin thoughtfully for a moment, before shrugging. "Whatever. As long as there's something for us to eat, I really don't give the slightest care where it comes from."

 ** _Thank you all you epic people for reading the next chapter. Yes, I did read your reviews which you left me as few as they were were and I would like to thank every one of you who supported me thus far in encouraging me to keep writing.  
These take a long and exhausting process to think up and write and I promise that we will see more of our heroine Bubbles soon, as well as other less seen and less valued characters soon. I'm not very good at writing or characterizing characters so sorry if anyone seems out of character. But anyhow thank you. And as usual I would like to hear what you believe is coming up for Townsville so that it can finally be the safe and happy place the girls always wanted it to be. Thank you all and I will see you in the next chapter. Thank you and bye bye._**


	8. An urge to kill

"Several arrested over suspicion of causing strikes against Mayor" the professor read out loud, as he flipped to the next page of the paper he had fixated himself upon after another long day in the lab, making the finishing tests to his next big classified project.

He sipped coffee as he shook his head, clearly puzzled. "But who want to do such a thing like that? A lot of people appearing to be the culprit behind this attempt to turn the city against the mayor have been caught, but all of them say that although they hate the mayor as well, none of them know who it was that started this entire mess."

"Take a look" he insisted as he turned the paper around to show his three daughters who sat in a sofa waiting for the next good cartoon on television to come on, meanwhile simply meditating and celebrating this brief period of relative peace that would no doubt soon be disturbed, although this time they had a feeling that it wasn't simply a bloodthirsty monster hellbent on crushing buildings that they would have to deal with.

One gigantic monster had in fact tried to jump the city earlier that day, but thankfully they had intercepted it and brought it down quickly before it even got to the city thanks to a nature hike the three girls had been taking outside the city to get away from the hustle and bustle of the crowded metropolis.

The walk had of course turned out less peacefully than they would have preferred, but at least no civilians had been killed from this relatively minor incident. Ignoring of course, the implications that this beast was just a scout or messenger of thoughts for much worse to come, and that when he didn't get back to his equally as barbaric brethren, they were bound to come looking for revenge.

The paper which the girls now tiredly turned their attention towards, showcased several large and muscular men in prisoner clothing behind bars, not an unusual sight in this restless and often lawless place where law enforcement teams were sub par at best. What really caught their eye, was the headline below which stated that the first strikes and large scale protests had began after a soaring rise in the amount of buildings vandalized by graffiti spouting all kinds of hate messages towards the mayor and how they despised his methods of running the city.

There had been an escalation in the amount of hatred shown towards the mayor for some days now, but today had taken this to new extremes as a large group of rebellious protesters had gathered outside the mayor's office, some holding large signs saying "Power to the people. We want mayor gone.".

They stood outside the whole day, and refused to leave even when the mayor ordered them to leave him in peace and threatened to start taking legal action if the crowd didn't go away. This made them even angrier, according to the newspaper, and some of them even began to bang on the door even though it was made from thick steel far too tough to break through.

It was then that the mayor called in the police, and managed to grab a few of the protesters not quick enough todisperse after learning too late that he was for once being serious.

Most of those taken in for questioning were uncooperative at best, and downright insulting to the officers at worst claiming that they were nothing more than cowardly puppets on a string working for a selfish puppet master who only cared about himself, too much of a softy to even try and gang up on the mayor so that they could have a better life along with everyone else once the mayor was gone.

The few who were calm enough to give any answers during interrogation time, claimed they knew nothing about the possible identity of one "Rebel strika 91" who had not only started a chat room and webpage campaigning against the mayor, but claimed to be the one planting dirt against him also in the form of posters which they claimed they had placed all over Townsville to try and raise awareness of their cause.  
They could give no more information, and claimed that even if they knew more they would keep what more they knew hidden.

The investigation continues.

"What do you make of it?" the professor asked, clearly unable to understand much himself.

"Whoever's plotting this dastardly scheme must be a very cunning agent." Blossom slowly remarked, after some few seconds of deep thought "They're a lot like a shadow in the way they've stayed hidden for so long. I still don't see why anyone would want the mayor gone so badly. I mean I don't like the mayor much myself and neither do my sisters, but we put up with him despite that."

"I'm with you on this one Bloss" replied Buttercup "I mean sure, mayor's not the nicest guy but come on, neither are a lot of the monsters and criminals we have to deal with on a day to day basis like we do. And even if Mayor did leave, we'd probably just end up with someone even less good at running the city than him. Not to mention how if no one's run against him for this long, this really has come out of nowhere."

She turned to Bubbles, who had so far listened in silence, trying not to make direct eye contact with any of the other 3 people in the room with her. "What do you make of all this Bubbles?"

Bubbles knew that she had to respond with extreme caution, even if these were her sisters and her daddy she was replying to. There was no telling what could happen if they found out too soon. They might not rat her out to the mayor knowing how genuine their love for her was, but they might be so mad with her for lying and doing something so dangerous that they might never have the same good relationship with her again.

Perhaps they'd even insist that she never talk to them again. Perhaps they'd even disown her and tell her to find another city without Mr Mayor to go and live in, if that was how she felt.

Of course Bubbles knew that the chances of that were very slim, but all the same she realized that she hadn't survived this long in such a dangerous life by taking unnecessary risks. And she certainly wasn't prepared to take a chance now, especially when the stakes were so high for not just her but the several hundreds if not thousands of lives she planned to improve.

She only shook her head, averting her gaze so that Buttercup could not see the blankness of her empty eyes. "It's hard to imagine how anyone could want to go so far with this silly plan." she admitted, managing despite the tense situation not to lie since she never once thought her plan would get to this stage. She had expected it to fail from the get go and yet it only became more and more successful against all her grim expectations. "What kind of person would do something like this?"

"Probably some convoluted bad guy whose trying to turn everyone against each other so he can catch everyone off guard with whatever it is that he's planning. That would be my most logical guess." stated Blossom, stroking Bubbles's hair after seeing how distressed she seemed by the news.

"Don't worry Bubbles." she consoled gently "I'm sure it's nothing too serious that we can't solve. I'm sure they'll find whoever it is that's spreading these dirty lies soon."

"They're not lies and you know they're not." Bubbles almost blurted out, only just managing to keep her escalating temper in check at the last second by clenching her eyes shut and gritting her teeth. "You even said yourself Blossom that you don't think Mr Mayor's a very nice person.", she thought silently. "You just don't want to admit that you're against him too because you're scared about getting in trouble."

"Yes well" chimed in the professor, glancing at the clock on the wall "I think that we shouldn't let this fairly small, um, incident get to us too much. And if I remember correctly your favorite cartoon starts about now, so I guess I'll leave you girls alone to enjoy your time here while I go back and do one last check on whether I've really gotten everything ready for the meeting tomorrow. I can't be late, and I can't afford to leave anything important behind."

And with that, he stifled a quiet yawn as he stood up and trudged wearily upstairs leaving the girls in private as they flicked the television back on and Buttercup grabbed the box of popcorn they had prepared on a nearby table.

Bubbles allowed herself to sit still and lose herself to the beautiful and vibrant images on the screen before her, she needed some relaxation time to recompose her thoughts on what to do next now that the tensions were getting serious. Some cartoon time would give her that relaxation she so needed.

The film ended and Bubbles eventually allowed herself to relax as she tried to drift away into sleep beside her sister's on the comfortable sofa, realizing that for this one night at least no more posters needed to be stuck around the city now that everyone got the picture well enough.

That was, until she heard a faint sob emanating from outside. Someone without her sensitive ears, made more sensitive by years of being unable to get to sleep at night out of fear of the darkness and the horrors lurking under her bed would have dismissed the quiet din as nothing more than a wild fancy.

But Bubbles, who was still not fully asleep yet managed to hear the sound clearly enough.

She listened for a few seconds more, thinking briefly that she was just imagining things because of the stress that had really been hitting her hard over these past few days, but there it was again and definitely louder this time as well as more sad.

Bubbles didn't know who could be shouting their grief to the world at this time of the night. She didn't care.

All she knew was that whoever it was, was clearly very desperate and urgently needed comfort. This wasn't the kind of cry a spoiled child would wail to illicit sympathy when he couldn't play with his toy train or buy his favorite sugared cereal in a supermarket because his parent's said he couldn't.

It was much worse than that. This was the kind of lament a depressed man would make, as he climbed the stairs to the top floor of a skyscraper and opened the window before readying himself to jump to his death.

Bubbles had heard this kind of cry only once in her life, and that was when she had come across a young blonde woman crying over the corpse of her dead and only baby son whose head had been ripped from his body by a rampaging monster. A monster that Bubbles later beheaded without mercy or without holding back.

Bubbles needed to find where that sound came from, and quickly. Whoever made that cry might have only seconds left before something unimaginably terrible happened to them. They might well be in their last throes of life, even as Bubbles stealthily darted from the house and managed to follow the noise down street after street despite the moonless sky and the loud din of a still bustling city that did it's best to obscure the cries and sobs that were Bubbles's only compass.

Bubbles didn't know what she could expect to find, but she didn't care. Unless this really was some sort of extremely devious trap set out to trick her, but she dismissed the idea of it all being an act when she heard the sob again, now more choked with desperation and pleading than ever.

It couldn't have been a trick. Even if the sob did come from a remorseless criminal, Bubbles had every reason to help since she knew that to ignore a plea so sincere as the one she heard now, would be to accept full responsibility for whatever gruesome fate befell the unknown figure next when they could cry no more. And she wasn't sure she could live with that guilt.

The buildings parted ahead, to reveal a thick forested area ahead but being a Powerpuff girl, the trees did nothing to impede Bubbles as she flew higher and banked over the trees beneath her with the greatest ease.

Her baby blue eyes carefully scanned the forest beneath her for any sign of something that could give a clue as to where the cry was coming from, but could find nothing as of yet despite the care she took when she gave each and every bit of land a careful look over even as she flew forward.

Something strange happened as the layer of trees broke apart to review a large lake, a perfect place for a quiet walk at least during the day when it would surely look a lot less frightening and bleak than it did now. The sobbing seemed to stop, and a deep inhaling took its place.

The kind of breaths a professional singer might take when he was readying his final performance to try and wow his audience with a surprise finale that he was a hundred percent certain that it would blow them away. Though Bubbles wondered what kind of audience anyone could expect on this dim cold night, in such a secluded and empty place such as this lake in the middle of so dense a forest.

It was a nice place to clear one's thoughts, Bubbles had to admit. But at the same time, quite a lonely place considering the thick layer of forest one would have to navigate through to find such a place. The forest seemed quiet peaceful, but at the same time quiet tedious and difficult to have to walk through. Bubbles did wonder for a second whether she was intruding on someone's privacy, since she did struggle to imagine anyone coming to such a secluded place for any reason save to be left alone in seclusion.

Her thoughts about perhaps leaving before she upset the one she only meant to help was interrupted by a soft and melodious voice which seemed to sear through Bubbles's very soul. It was a sad, emotional voice which sang. The kind of voice a lonely musician might sing when he realized that his entire audience had long since left the stage never to return, yet so engrossed in his tune was he that he continued to sing unable to stop.

 _ **"I've got no time. I've got no time to live."**_ went the lonely singer, a young female no older than thirteen judging by the frailty and pitch of the carefully sung song. _**"I've got no time to live and I can't say goodbye."**_

Bubbles was relieved she had come. Clearly whoever was singing really was near the brink of dying, and she really had come just in time. She descended from her position in the sky, not wanting to be seen yet as she crept towards the dark silhouette she could now see clearly standing on what appeared to be a cliff overlooking the dark waters of the lake, holding what appeared to be some sort of light which it waved about slightly as it sang.

 _ **"And I'm regretting having memories of my friends when they used to be beside me, before they left be to die."**_ came the next part of the song, causing Bubbles's eyes to moisten slightly, while making her stamp her feet in anger. Whoever had made this young girl (Bubbles guessed it was a girl from the pitch at which the song was sang) was going to be very sorry, she promised the singer that much.

 _ **"But I know this is. I know this is the truth. Cause I've been staring at my death so many times"**_

Now Bubbles's eyes narrowed and she clenched her teeth. What did that girl mean by her death? Was it already too late to do anything? At best the word "death" was a metaphor for something not quiet as bad, but clearly bad enough so that the singer felt empty and hollow inside. Was she... Bubbles could not finish her thought. It hurt her heart so badly.

 _ **"These scary monsters roaming in the halls. I wish I could just block the doors. And stay in bed until the clock will chime."**_ The voice seemed to be struggling to refrain from breaking, but was clearly forcing itself to finish the song at any price.

What did she mean by that Bubbles wondered as the chorus came, marked by an increased amount of grief in the words and a slight rise in volume.

 _ **"So my Flashlight's on, and I stay up until dawn.I got this headache and my life's on the line."**_

Again, what did she mean by her life being on the line. Or was it even a girl doing the singing?  
The only thing Bubbles could glean so far, was that sleep had been a difficult thing for whoever was singing. Bubbles almost wanted to rush forward and beg the mysterious figure standing on the cliff to stop singing and tell her what was wrong, but she knew that would be rude.  
The very least Bubbles could do was let the singer finish before she interrupted, and perhaps she could learn more about how she could best help when she heard the rest of the song.

 _ **"I felt like I won, but I wasn't done. The nightmare repeats itself every time. Got to keep my calm, and carry on. Stay awake until the sun will shine. But I'm not so strong, and they're not gone. They're still out there to take what's left of mine"**_

Who was they?, was the biggest question in Bubbles mind right now as she resisted the urge to step forward to get a closer look at the figure whose face was turned away from her. She knew even one step forward could give away her position, and she didn't want to do that yet. But whoever "they" were, they would soon pay for driving this stranger to this deep depression.

And yet even as Bubbles's sympathy for whoever the stranger was had grown by the second, that sympathy and pity turned to utter shock as the stranger began the second verse of the song, quieter yet more angry than before.

 _ **"I have this urge, I have this urge to kill. I have this urge to kill and show that I'm alive."**_

Bubbles clapped her hand over her mouth. Was this... another criminal who had turned to crime because of some deep seated trauma. Had she been feeling guilt for a remorseless serial murderer, who was likely planning their next murder even as they sang. Had they come here so that no one would witness them as they plotted their next evil scheme against some innocent child.

 ** _The_** blonde girl's angst only trebled as her heart began to beat faster and faster when the next line turned out to be perhaps the most twisted words she had heard her whole life long.

 _ **"I'm getting sick from these apologies, of people with priorities that their lives matter so much more than mine."**_

Bubbles didn't know whether to feel pity or anger at those words. Was this a justification as to why someone would be willing to turn to killing. If so, then did this make the killer more sympathetic, or even more barbaric. Bubbles didn't know the answer, and her feet refused to carry her away from here until she found out just what those words really meant.

As much a turncoat and joker as fate was, today it had brought her here in a rare bout of seriousness for a reason. And Bubbles was determined to discover it even if it killed her. Be it morbid curiosity, or genuine sympathy which gripped the blonde preschooler superhero, she really didn't care now.

But just as her heart felt as if it would thud out of her rib cage, another poignant line caused her to gasp audibly in exasperation now no longer knowing what truly to feel anymore.

 _ **"But I'm stuttering. I'm stuttering again. No one will listen and no one will understand. Because I'm crying as much as I speak, cause no one likes it when I shriek, want to go back to where it all began."**_

And then, no longer able to stand the pain and concern that had been building inside her from the first verse of this concise yet elaborate and well put together song which said things that ordinary words in a normal conversation could never express, Bubbles ran forward towards the dark figure which had by now stopped singing after realizing at last that it was no longer alone in its secret place.

Sounds carried further than expected on a silent and windless night such as this, especially when there were but two people alone together in such a obscured and secretive location. Bubbles's gasp, quiet as it was had been enough to alarm the stranger that something was not quite right.

The stranger slowly turned as Bubbles ran forward, freezing in place as the stranger clapped eyes on her with their baleful stare and most of their face still obscured in blackness.

 _ **Thank you once again so much for reading. This chapter really took a massive chunk out of me and it really was fun to write. One thing I love to do in films and movies is to find an appropriate song which summarizes the setting and characters of the movie as perfectly as possible. Bubbles's plan as you can see is unfolding well, but clearly there are still a lot of other obstacles for our brave heroine to encounter. Some of these will take place between people she never thought she would have to confront anywhere but in a fight.**_

 ** _I'm sure you've already guessed it by now from the chapter, but who do you think this mysterious figure who Bubbles has chosen to try and help really is? And what do you think they really need from Bubbles?_**

 ** _I would really like to hear your opinions once more, and as usual stay tuned for the next chapter which may take some time. Please do comment, since I do read every one of your compliments and every one of them breaks my heart inside. Thank you all so much once again._**


	9. Misunderstood

The figure turned slowly to face the trembling Bubbles, their face still largely shrouded by darkness.  
Taking one step forward, Bubbles could see despite the fact that it was a dark moonless night that the figure had long auburn hair tied into two large puffs which hung at their side.

There was also no mistaking the expensive yellow nightgown which they were clad in, and the bright yellow crown worn neatly on the stranger's head which Bubbles could only now see.

"I'm a friend." stated Bubbles gently, hoping to reassure the stranger that she was harmless and indeed only here to help. "You don't need to worry about me. Really you don't. I just want to help you."

It wasn't until several seconds later that Bubbles got a response. The stranger seemed to convulse in fear, as they took a few steps forward, close enough so that now Bubbles could see their face clearly enough.

A freckled face, wearing a annoyed and wearied expression coupled with two narrow slits for eyes. The face of a wealthy, attention seeking girl who Buttercup would warn Bubbles to stay a mile away from ,were she here.

The face of Princess Morbucks.

Cold sweat trickled from her forehead, as Bubbles regarded the girl with a mixture of concern and shock. It was true that she along with her sisters, had been distrustful of this girl since the day their paths had crossed in Kindergarten. A day Bubbles remembered like it was just yesterday.

There was a shiny limousine which pulled into the driveway that sunny morning. Bubbles, along with a group of other eager children had watched as the car door opened and showed her Princess. An attractive enough girl about her age and height, wearing an expensive and very neatly organized jumper and skirt, with socks that reached up to her ankles.

Bubbles had wanted to walk up to the new girl , but some deep seated feeling had prevented her from moving even a step as the girl stormed angrily into school refusing to have anything to do with the various recreational activities that the other children were engrossed in, with the time still being morning break.

Despite her apparent coldness and abrasiveness that Bubbles along with her sisters saw in their new classmate, it was something in her eyes that made Bubbles want to run up to her and ask what was wrong. Why Bubbles never went with her instincts that day or any day after for that matter, she would never know.

Those tired, empty eyes which Princess regarded everything and everyone around her with till this day. A pair of fearful eyes that wanted to see no one and nothing anymore.

But that never happened and Bubbles had never approached Princess since that day. What ensued after a convoluted chain of events far too complex to go into without bringing nasty and visceral thoughts that Bubbles never wanted to remember again, Bubbles along with her sisters Blossom and Buttercup had stood staring as Princess was bundled into a police van which had arrived to take her away.

The three of them shared an answering glance as they realized together that they had made a dangerous enemy that day,. Though it was Bubbles alone as she clutched her still bleeding nose, who shed a tear as she reflected on all that had happened. A tear lamenting the loss of what could have been a long and beautiful friendship.

Those were the graphic images that flashed up in Bubbles's mind, as she managed with great willpower not to look away from Princess's grim frown. A frown which said more than words ever could, and once again caused Bubbles to shed a single tear which she quickly wiped away. A tear at the thought of what might have been.

Bubbles doubted there would be a formal reception between them, especially after all the nasty scrapes that had happened later between them. Bubbles herself had not forgotten the times when she had sought revenge against her and her sisters in a variety of creative ways to get back at them for what she perceived as a dire insult and wrong towards her.

Not that Bubbles really ever blamed her. Some of the horrible things they had done to Princess, many of which Bubbles was directly involved in really did make Bubbles's stomach churn with discomfort.

Bubbles could think of nothing to say, so instead respectfully waited in silence for Princess to speak first. It was the most polite thing she could think to do in this moment.

"What do you want?" sighed Princess at last, her tone neither friendly nor unfriendly. "Have you come to make fun of me because I'll never be one of you. Save it. I already know."

Bubbles could only shake her head gently, still at a loss for words.

"No? Then why are you here? Don't you realize that I was happy here by myself until you showed up." snapped the wealthy girl impatiently, her face already beginning to turn as red as her hair.

Bubbles took a deep breath as she tried to force herself to say anything. Anything to make her seem at least somewhat sympathetic to the girl she had spent most of her life spurning and rejecting, partly because of Blossom and Buttercup's warnings.

She could never bring herself to hate Princess the way her sisters always did, but whether this made her any better she didn't know.

"Go!" yelled Princess. "I don't want to see you here. If all you came to do was insult me to my face again like you always do, just go. I know I'll never be a powerpuff girl. You don't need to tell me again."

Bubbles shook her head once again, still unable to find the words to express her concern for the girl who clearly wanted nothing but to see her turn around and leave. But Bubbles did not want to leave. Princess's cries of grief had brought her here, and unless she was very good at pretending this time this certainly didn't seem like another trick.

Princess seemed to be on the verge of losing her temper, as she clenched her teeth. "I was minding my own business, until you showed up. All I am asking is that you leave me in peace. Is that really too much to ask?"

Bubbles took a deep breath, as she touched her chest with her left hand and held out her right hand. She had to speak now, and quickly before Princess's hatred for her got out of hand. It was time to do what should have been done a long time ago but which she had always procrastinated on. Since Blossom and Buttercup were not here to clean up their mess, she would do it in their place regardless of what they thought of her later.

"Look" said Bubbles, looking Princess in the eyes to show she was serious in every word she said "I'm sorry. Really I am."

"Sorry?" echoed Princess sarcastically, her face still red "You think a sorry will make me forgive you for all the things you and your sisters have done to me by now? Well keep your sorry for yourself. You clearly aren't sorry. You never were when you were getting me arrested and then getting me onto the naughty list without any sympathy. You're not sorry."

"I'm really sorry." repeated Bubbles gently "I never meant to do all these terrible things to you. I should have helped you instead of always letting my sisters decide what I should do."

"Your sisters are selfish losers who don't care about anyone but themselves" replied Princess, clearly still not buying a single word of Bubbles's apology "And so are you. I don't talk to selfish losers like you so just get the heck away and never come back."

Ignoring the insult, Bubbles closed her eyes and bowed in shame. "My sisters never meant to hurt you Princess. I know Buttercup can be a bit easy to upset sometimes, it's always been part of who she is and sometimes she even takes it out on me. And Blossom sometimes thinks she always knows better and doesn't listen to what I say either. I know how you feel Princess, really I do. Their my sisters. I put up with them despite their mistakes because I still love them."

"They still sound like selfish losers to me. And if they treat you so badly, you're nothing but an even bigger moron for staying with them. You should just leave them behind. Not that I really care since I don't like you."

"If I left my sisters, I'd have nowhere to go." explained Bubbles patiently. "I'd have no one to turn to when things got tough, and I certainly wouldn't be as happy as I was today. My sisters do care about me, just as I care about them. I need them, they need me. Life isn't easy, but when we're together it feels a bit better."

If Princess felt anything, she was certainly trying her best not to show it. But Bubbles could have sworn she saw Princess's eyes twitch, if only slightly.

"That's easy for you to say, you're a goody two shoes Powerpuff girl who everyone loves. But do you care that no one loves me. No of course not."

At the mention of the words "no one loves me", Bubbles began to feel a sharp pain in her chest as well as a huge surge of liquid forming in her eyes. Of course Bubbles knew that most of the school still hated Princess after her first day, but didn't Princess also mention she had a daddy who bought her everything she wanted.

Surely at least that man loved his daughter. Or had this poor, misunderstood girl really never known the beautiful sensation known well to Bubbles as love.  
Did that mean... Bubbles could not bear to finish her thought.

"Why Princess? Doesn't your daddy at least love you?" Bubbles honestly could not care less at this stage if Princess went out of control and threw a fist into her nose. She would deserve it for all the neglect and indifference she had shown to this poor girl, despite claiming to be the "joy and laughter" in her group of sisters.

She certainly hadn't given Princess any joy and laughter, in their long years of hostility and pointless fighting.

Princess's red face, whitened a little at this question and Bubbles could once again swear that Princess seemed just as close to tears by now as her.  
Princess's tired, narrow eyes widened a little and she sighed a little before uttering a sharp and curt laugh.

A laugh that hurt Bubbles, much more than hearing Princess cry. A laugh that a depressed man would make as he drove a razor into his flesh and dug it as deep as he could, hoping the pain would ease his sorrows when in fact he knew full well it would not.

"Ha ha ha ha ha" laughed Princess, clutching her chest as she stared at Bubbles with cold and empty eyes, which seemed to stare into Bubbles's very essence.

"What's wrong Princess" pleaded Bubbles, unable to listen to this sick laughter for any longer.

Princess managed after several more seconds, to get her laughter under control by taking several long and painful breaths which hurt to listen to.

Then in a voice already well under control, she grinned a little as she decided after what seemed to be a few long seconds in reflection to deign to give a reply.

"Ah you idiot." sighed Princess, feigning cheerfulness in her voice "You silly idiot. You really believe that you're the only one who deserves an oh so happy family, with an oh so lovely group of friends that love you oh so much, don't you. You don't think that maybe all I wanted was to be popular like you. Well if that's what you really think Blondie, you're even more of a loser than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not telling you anything else. I don't trust you and even if I did tell you, you'd just stay I was lying and that you didn't trust me. So forget about it and go away."

Bubbles gasped as the guilt that had began to fester in her gut since this conversation began, now seemed to course through her very veins.  
She felt a heavy burden crawling on her back, and that the devil himself was staring her in the face as he brandished his giant red trident, grinning evilly.

A mixture of emotions ran through Bubbles in this very moment.  
Pity with a lonely girl who the world had beaten down on for far too long, anger with her two sisters for manipulating her decisions so that she could never openly show the sympathy she had hidden away but overriding everything was a burning sense of determination and responsibility.

Determination to get Princess and her sisters to meet just once to have a peaceful talk and conversation without any more fighting.

Determination to see for just once, a true and honest smile on Princess's tear stained face as well. To see Princess's eyes wide and eager to live the life she had been given and embrace friendship rather than trying to shut the world out like this.

But most of all, determination to see Princess and Buttercup smiling together in a photo, A photo that they'd each keep a copy of to signify an end to a long and pointless rivalry and that the long years they had spent at each other's tongues had not been completely wasted. This would be the true sign that both of them had changed for the better and that the change was there to hopefully stay.

As much as Bubbles wanted to put the blame on herself, she admitted that it was probably Buttercup's smug and blase attitude which perpetuated this whole chain of sad events and misunderstandings. And only Buttercup could truly give Princess the forgiveness she needed to move past this sadness.

"Well if you have nothing else meaningful to say. I'm going. Don't come back for me again because next time I see you, I'll make you regret everything." insisted Princess as she stifled a loud yawn and turned to leave, taking step after step away. It was clear that her opinions on Bubbles and her own miserable existence, had not changed one bit.

"Wait!" Bubbles managed to shout just as Princess was about to vanish from her sight.

For a long tense moment, it seemed that Princess was ignoring Bubbles as she continued to trudge wearily away.

"I want to help you. But I can't unless I know what's wrong. Please tell me what's wrong and I'll do my best to help." promised Bubbles desperately, hoping the desperation in her voice made her vow at least slightly more believable.

Now almost out of sight and almost shrouded completely in darkness, Princess very reluctantly turned around and shot Bubbles a calculating glance.

"You already know what I want if you really want to help me. So go away." she muttered, before turning once more to wander away as she seemingly merged with the dark shadow of the night and vanished from view.

Cold and exhausted, Bubbles continued to stare into the distance silently for a few moments more, her eyes somehow still dry.

Then very slowly, she picked herself up from the ground as she slowly flew up into the sky to head for home.

She had found herself another task to add to her already arduous list of responsibilities tonight.

The new Townsville would never be the safe and happy place she wanted it to be if Princess wasn't part of the happiness and pleasure. And if her sisters couldn't stop fighting Princess, then there was no point in continuing further.

Peace and equality meant peace and equality for everyone after all.

 _ **Once again thank you everyone for reading and commenting on this story which I've worked so hard to think up and write. I really do appreciate all the comments and I really do read and appreciate every one of them.**_

 ** _Sorry this update took a while again. So what do you think of the story so far. What do you feel our blonde heroine will need to do next. Which direction do you feel things will head in next? I would like to hear your opinions in comments and would really appreciate the support._**

 _ **So thank you and I will see you in the next chapter. Bye bye.**_


	10. Revolution!

Bubbles had much to think about the following day, as the events of yesterday night came back all too clearly to her as she wearily picked herself up from the comfortable armchair she had somehow fallen asleep on when she returned home after an interesting confrontation with Princess.

She had learned so little, yet at the same time so much from a short and awkward talk between them.

She had expected something quite out of the ordinary when she flew out that night to investigate the crying noise which roused her attention somehow.

But Princess was the last person she could have thought would need her help that badly, and yet be so afraid to seek for it.  
But then again she had never given Princess the best first impression when they first met, and so in her mind Princess had every right to be this unwilling to even communicate with her.

Just as she had feared, Princess had been very cryptic about what it was that she really wanted. Bubbles would have thought that making Princess another Powerpuff girl would have been the solution that would finally put an end to this pointless rivalry which had already lasted a great deal too long.

It was the events of yesterday when as difficult to notice as it was, Bubbles could tell by the intonation in Princess's words even as she spoke them one by one that becoming a Powerpuff girl was not what would make her happy.

It had never been what she truly wanted to begin with, and anyone with more common sense and compassion than Blossom, Buttercup and herself at the time would have realized that.

As Bubbles had slowly learned over the years she spent reflecting on the many struggles she and her sisters had been through to see this day, what people meant and what people said was more often than not two very different things altogether.

This was true whether you were a reputable and well spoken-off heroine like Buttercup her sister, or a misunderstood and mistreated bully such as in the case of Princess.  
It seemed complicated at first, but boiled down to the simple saying "It's not who you are on the outside that really matters".

How long it would be before Buttercup and Blossom realized this wise and beautiful moral, she didn't know. But perhaps the day they did, they would finally begin to see what Bubbles saw. And that was that the more different two enemies might have seemed to each other, the more similarities in personality and desires they would turn out to share.

And as difficult a fact as it was for even the most optimistic of peacemakers to accept, Bubbles had realized long ago mostly from watching as enemies banded together from time to time to give her sisters an even harder challenge than fighting them singly that a common goal was the most important foundation for any kind of partnership including friendship.

Bubbles disliked learning lessons from such a shady place, but she had to agree that the most dangerous adversaries that she had dealt with revolved around those such as the Rowdyruff boys who had managed to some degree to form a team of sorts rather than stupidly trying to take on her and her sisters alone.

A worthy opponent was still a worthy opponent, even if they were an enemy. And any self respecting hero, gave credit where credit was due.

And if villains who intended harm upon innocents had gotten so far by forming even rudimentary and uneasy truces with one another, what was stopping the people of the city doing the same to better shield each other from those dangers.

And how was any city meant to tackle threats from outside effectively, when the very citizens were wasting time fighting each other making themselves easy prey for any outside threat crafty and sadistic enough to take advantage of their stupidity.

It was this reason, concluded Bubbles, which sparked her goal of wanting to strip the mayor of all his power since he was clearly not helping matters by abusing his position and putting the relationships that the city folk did have with one another further in jeopardy.

Her first goal were she to succeed she once again reminded herself, was not to begin organizing a better defense against external dangers that were as always prevalent though this would still be one of her first priorities afterwards.  
It also wasn't about establishing better relationships starting with the surrounding towns and cities that mayor had turned his back on, since that was also important if Bubbles was going to put a permanent stop to the conflict she had seen for far too long.

No, those were both bad places to start. Since what good was any attempt to achieve anything when the people in the city never listened to each other, and would often even work against each other.

The war still happening between the monsters and the city, wasn't the one that required the most attention.

The most worrying conflict was none other than the silly and pointless one between the very people themselves, who were prepared to endanger each other's lives despite the blatant danger that they were all mutually involved in together.

That had to stop now at any cost.

Loud yelling had been the cue that roused Bubbles from the realm of sleep this sunrise, as a loud clamor of shouts and yells came from outside.

So many shouts and growls came at the same time, so Bubbles hadn't the faintest idea of what was being said.

Blossom and Buttercup had clearly heard too, since they were already anxiously peeking out from the upstairs window when Bubbles found them this morning after a brief search around the house.

"What is happening?" asked Bubbles, trying to sound clueless despite already having a very good idea of what awaited. She had been waiting many long, restless nights for this after all. She had never expected this to come so soon though.

Blossom's only reply was to turn around briefly, gesturing for Bubbles to stand at another window to look at the commotion outside which Bubbles quickly complied with.

It was difficult to say whether her emotion in the next few seconds could best be summed up as proud, or incredibly shameful and regretful.

One of a few police teams that the mayor did have at his disposal were waving batons and guns yelling for a gigantic crowd that had gathered on the road, to stop immediately before force was taken.

This however only seemed to enrage the crowd more and more as they responded in kind, some angrily waving makeshift and improvised arms they had hastily gathered not limited to baseball bats and golf clubs.

"We won't listen to the mayor anymore." Bubbles managed to make out amidst the shouts and insults.

"Terrible isn't it?" asked Blossom, her eyes still glued to another window.

Bubbles couldn't bring herself to reply. Instead she resolutely turned away from the window and quietly crept downstairs to get a coffee.  
She had to think, and she couldn't do that on a still half asleep mind that was still drowsy from last night's outing.

She swore she heard the sound of breaking glass, as she crept into the kitchen after seeing the professor was nowhere to be found.

This was the most important step in her plan, and she couldn't afford even the slightest hiccup.

Several options began to present themselves to her as she finished mixing hot water with the coffee granules she had placed in a mug, and sipped the bitter yet refreshing hot beverage.

And all of them were pretty risky and bad. Not one of them seemed the better or wiser.

She could sit and do nothing, pretending that this entire fiasco was none of her business so that at least if the riots outside were unsuccessful, none of the blame would be focused on her.

The only problem with that, was that for her to have come so far and then to just back down like this would undermine everything she stood for in this mission she had undertaken upon herself. Not to mention that her sisters were bound to get the truth out of her soon, since she was not very good at hiding things and hated having to lie. And that would definitely be far, far worse than if they found out here and now on the spot. Since at least then she could at least claim she had been somewhat upfront about her intentions and that might illicit a small degree of sympathy for her plight, however small.

Many other options had come into her mind at first, but she quickly pushed one after another one away as she sipped the black and bitter liquid.

They were in reality just convoluted and needlessly elaborate versions of the only two real paths she could take at these crossroads where turning back simply wasn't an option.

Buttercup could have put her feelings into words far better than herself in this tense moment as the caffeine already began to work it's energizing effects on the now rapidly perking up Bubbles as she ceased her yawns and sat up straighter.  
It came down to two very obvious choices where only a cowardly custard would choose wrongly.

Take a chance and risk everything, or play it safe and lose out at once.

Bubbles took one last glance at the adorable picture of her sisters and her smiling together next to their dad the professor.  
Her eyes narrowed as she clenched her teeth, dispelling the last of her fears as she focused the willpower she had been building for years and years now to step in and do something more than just watch as her efforts to save life after life always ended in futility when another monster or criminal fell upon the city right after one had been dealt with.

Draining the last of her morning drink in one gulp and taking a brief moment to relish in the tingling sensation of wellness as even more caffeine raced through her knackered system. She took one last look upstairs, knowing that her already shocked sisters would soon be even more amazed by what was about to happen.

And resisting the urge to return upstairs out of fear that they would catch on and try to stop her, she unlocked the back door and bravely marched outside, soaring higher and higher almost instantly as she threw the door shut behind her.

Picking up height, she flew higher and higher until she now had a very clear view of the two crowds that had gathered out the front street.

Nodding to herself, she descend slightly still keeping a good height between herself and the ground.

In the time she had spent trying to formulate a plan, the crowd of people had charged forward despite the fact that many of the policemen were for once armed with what appeared to be well crafted rifles.

They were rapidly closing the distance between them and the police team, and she swore she heard a shot ring out and a cry of pain as she swooped down at the ground.

The remaining police were quickly following that example and aiming their weapons but Bubbles was determined not to let that happen.

She knew she had less than an instant to react.

"It's me." Bubbles had shouted, causing many officers to avert their glance towards where she was still hovering, many of them beginning to smile when they saw their favored heroine before them thinking she would no doubt assist them with this odd struggle they had found themselves in.

They could not have been more wrong.

In the next second, a gigantic beam of extremely hot laser blasts had been loosed at the place where the uniformed men with guns had taken up position. It billowed rapidly at the ground, exploding when it met the earth causing a thick sheet of smog to be thrown up.

The rebellious crowd who the blast had left surprisingly untouched did not wait to see what would happen next as they continued charging into the smog yelling frantically.

Dull thuds and the sounds of a struggle could be heard as the smoke began to clear, revealing a carnage filled tussle where many of the uniformed officers lay twitching on the ground and those who could still stand were battling for their very lives as rebellious citizens clashed with them and attempted to maul at them in any way they could. Some swung at the uniformed officers with bats and clubs and some even with just their fists, while others gripped the officer nearest to them in a headlock.

The diversion had provided the few seconds the crowd needed to gain the upper hand despite their relatively poor weapons and now the policemen's rifles were of no use despite being of greater reach than any of the melee based arms carried by the rebels.

Bile coated Bubbles's tongue as she realized that she had indeed flouted the law by seriously wounding if not outright killing several enforcers.  
But then she steadied herself as she acknowledged what would have become of the rebelling citizens had she not intervened. It was a choice between two wrongs, and in choices such as these the only thing you could really do was to kill the lesser amount.

But Bubbles had no time to stay and ponder, this revolution needed her help if it were to really succeed.

She did take the time to give an answering salute, when a middle aged man dressed in a shabby hooded jumper looked up at her with a grateful smile to wave a thank you. It was all he had time to muster, before he had to dive back into the fray taking another officer by the neck.

She quickly increased speed as she zipped away, using the rundown buildings to cover her path as best she could so that her next attack would be more of a surprise.

She stopped when she came to yet another violent clash between citizen and authorities, this one taking place in what appeared to be a shady alley.

The citizens were clearly not doing well, despite this group of police seeming to be armed only with batons and riot shields.

Hardening herself to what she knew would later haunt her dreams for the rest of her inevitably long life as a super powered heroine, she flew to the top of what appeared to be an apartment of sorts and taking one look at the decaying stonework of the triangular roof, gave the structure a heavy punch followed by a series of even stronger kicks.

It was a move Buttercup had taught her some time ago when she was showing off her superior fighting techniques and once again bragging about how much better at combat she was compared to either Blossom or Bubbles.  
She had called this move, the rain of pain.

As Bubbles had hoped, several heavy stones had crashed down into the crowds below. She had aimed her blows carefully so that they would only cause the stones to fall onto the policemen on the far side of the alley.

The point of this strike being not only to cause some serious damage, but to confuse and disorientate since having debris that was hard enough to shatter skulls falling in a constant rain was bound to really weaken their resolve. It was much less risky than a laser beam which was both difficult to aim and hard to control.

With their allies in the back rows now cowering as they struggled to shield themselves against the heavy rain of rubble, the front row fell an easy prey to the furious group of protesters as they easily pushed forward. Among them were angry children who seemed just as frantic about the whole ordeal as their much older and stronger guardians.

One such child, a young black boy who seemed at most to be maybe ten or eleven who had the luxury of relative safety in the back row of protesters saw the sweating and huffing Bubbles and managed to give a smile and wave as well as mouthing what sounded like "thank you.".

Bubbles nodded, before zipping away to find yet more places that needed her presence.

Not realizing that by now, her sisters were frantically speeding through street after street trying to find her after seeing the extremely violent actions she had began undertaking in the front street of their house.  
Neither sister said a word to each other, as they silently sped through block after block to try and locate the sibling who they only now realized had gone rogue.  
They didn't know that they were already too late. They hadn't suspected anything like this.

Thinking quickly, Bubbles altered her flight route in a direction she knew would take her close to city hall as she accelerated to as great a speed as she could muster. She slowed down only to take an aimed shot with her laser eyes when she saw a group of police locked in a incredibly one sided fight with poorly equipped citizens. The very citizens they were supposed to protect and guard with their lives.

Several unprepared men fell to Bubbles's deadly aim, as she quickly sped away before they could retaliate or register what just happened.

With her support, she could by now see that gradually the enforcers who had finally decided to show their face after neglecting their jobs for far too long were gradually dwindling in number and more and more citizens were no longer busy fighting as they ran through the street, also headed mostly for city hall eager to have the best view for what they all hoped would be the grand finale this showdown really deserved.

Many wore bliss and euphoria, as they were pleasantly surprised to see that it was not just some random and unimportant guy who no one cared about leading the campaign, but one of the very heroines they had trusted their lives to.

The fact that out of all three, this was the one who they were most comfortable around and the one who had won the happiest citizen contest several years in a row made them all the more joyous. They would have not have been as surprised if it turned out to be the quick tempered and pessimistic Buttercup who had led the smear campaign, and was now actively taking on the mayor's remaining loyal forces.

But this was none other than little Bubbles, the cute and relatively nonviolent one. They could tell just from the way she regarded them as she flew past block after block delivering judgement from above that she was not out for revenge nor personal gain.  
For her to be resorting to any form of violence without her sisters must have meant she had a very good reason for doing so.

A large crowd was already standing by city hall almost in eager anticipation as Bubbles closed the remaining distance, easily dispersing the remaining few guards trying to seal off the streets with a few laser blasts.  
She didn't even have to hit them directly, a warning shot did the trick well enough when these slightly more logical officers realized that their closest and most powerful ally had been turned against them.

They hadn't the power to contain even a few petty and unskilled thieves without her intervention, let alone a large scale organized rebellion. Not that they really even wanted to hurt her after all she had done for the city. Though their loyalties still lay with Mr Mayor, they did secretly hope that a brighter future beckoned when he was inevitably stripped of his power.

It was while all this was going on that the remaining two Powerpuffs were still wildly swerving from street to street, as they called the name of their beloved sister to no avail. They only saw group after group of what were supposed to be the city's guards and enforcement teams, fighting what was now a losing battle against the people who had finally grown tired of their complacency. Large smoking craters left in the middle of some of the streets told a grisly tale that their sister had most certainly been where those were.

They wanted to stop and ask someone if they just happened to see Bubbles passing through, but everyone was locked in one struggle or another as the mayor's remaining loyalists tried in vain to subdue the revolution.  
But neither girl was any wiser that it was already much too late as their sister soared over crowds of cheering people and made for the window on the top floor of what was by now a very old and quaint center of government.

She knew Mr Mayor would be sitting there waiting for her like he always was, and his assistant too.

He should have known that one day this conversation was coming.

 _ **Thank you so much once more for reading. I do apologize that I made some silly typing errors on I think it was chapter 8. I have gone back and fixed those. I understand the build up might have been less than what you expected, but I also realized that to make the wait drag on and on forever would just ruin the point and possibly delay the climax for so long it might never come out.**_

 _ **I do apologize if any character acted out of character. I'm not very good at that yet and I would appreciate some help with that.**_

 _ **And as usual please understand that these take a long time to think up and type, and that sometimes error's are inevitable when you're trying to get something out in so little time. I would really appreciate any thoughts you have on this work, I do read every one of your comments and I treasure them like gold.  
**_

 _ **So once again, I would now like to hear your thoughts. What do you think happens now that the fight against Mr Mayor is now in full swing?  
What changes will have to be made so that Townsville becomes the safe and happy haven it deserves to be for the innocent people that live there?  
And what obstacles stand between our kind and altruistic young hero and her vision of a better place for everyone? **_

_**I would love to hear what you think and I will see you in the next chapter which may take some time. Bye bye.**_


	11. A serious conversation

Mr Mayor shook his head in confusion as he briefly scanned another envelope addressed to him before tossing it into the already full waste paper bin.  
It was one of many angry letters addressed to him and he had made a point of not bothering to read any of them anymore since the ones in the recent days had become so full of insults and demands that he resign right away.

Resignation, his most hated word which he had made a point to his personal assistant never to say out loud while she was his worker. Just seeing it written on a piece of paper before his eyes, brought shudders down his spine.

What a terrible word to have to read. What a stupid idea for the people who loved him so greatly, to even think about putting on a letter to him.  
No one had run against him for so long, so why should that change now?

He heard that strikes against him had become much more serious this morning, and that the previously fairly tame civilians who had began showing rebellious sentiment against him seemed to be much more aggressive by now. Some were even carrying improvised weapons, his assistant had told him.

"Just put a couple of guards in the city." he had told her "I'm sure it's nothing serious, but just in case they think about trying anything silly."

She had carried out his order without question of course. And soon a few regiments of fairly well equipped and well trained men had been dispatched to go and apprehend the citizens and to take a bit of force if they seemed too enraged or jumpy.

He had sunk back into his easy chair after that, expecting this peculiar situation to die down soon as he closed his eyes and drifted back into his morning nap.

But less than 2 hours later, the assistant had seemed almost out of breath as she rushed back into his office explaining that the the protesters were getting all the more restless by the hour and that they had responded badly to the earlier forces he sent to contain them.

"Put a few more guards up." he wearily ordered, stifling a large yawn. "There can't be too many of those silly people out there. And tell them that I'm not seeing any visitors today since its Sunday."

His assistant on hearing this, seemed very downcast and forlorn. Her mouth seemed to want to open, as if trying to tell him something but he dismissed her with a wave of his hand as he took out a pickle jar and a fork from under his desk.  
A good snack eaten in peace and privacy, would help him recover from the stresses that this bleak news had brought upon him he told himself. The guards were just an additional security measure to be completely safe just in case any of the people did have their own senseless agenda.

Better to be safe than sorry was the old saying his people kept telling him to follow, right?

He was sure that seeing the few well armed men he still kept, would quickly bring those few that opposed him for some reason he could not fathom to their senses once more. He didn't need that many security guards when those three girls with superpowers had proven so able in defending the city from threats already, and could be reached with a click of his phone to arrive in a jiffy.

That was good. Security guards and weapons were expensive and those nice girls were saving him oodles of money. He might have been the mayor of a large city, but that didn't mean he was made of money did it. And who was to say that he didn't deserve his share of money to spend on his own stock of luxuries, he worked hard and surely deserved a little bit for himself. Being in charge of a city this filled with trouble, was quite the tiresome life after all.

Surely people understood that.

But even as he wearily opened his eyes and stretched himself, a loud banging was heard at his curtained window. The banging continued, getting louder and louder. Whoever was at the window seemed incredibly impatient to get in and seemed only seconds away from trying to smash the window down instead of politely knocking.

Mr Mayor scratched his mustache thoughtfully as he tried to ignore the noise. This was a very tall building after all, and as far as he could tell there was no easy way for anyone in their right mind to climb up that high to the floor his office was situated on. If someone really wanted to see him, surely it would be more logical to just knock the door instead.

"It's me. Bubbles. Please let me in." came a high pitched and sad plea from outside.

The voice of one of those three nice girls who always came when you needed them most, and who Mayor knew he'd be lost without. Three young heroes who were more than happy to carry out the incredibly urgent "operation Gherkin" as many times as it needed to be carried out.

Maybe she would give him some good news to talk about on this bleak day.

"Oh no problem. Let me just get that window open for you." replied the elderly man, as he made his way to the window and drew back the curtains revealing that it was indeed Bubbles hovering outside, her head hung low so that her face was hidden from his gaze.

That was odd, thought the mayor. Bubbles was known for being the happiest citizen city wide, she had even won a trophy for it last year. So what could have upset the poor young miss so greatly? A few slightly crazy ruffians wasn't anything to ruin a good day for anyone.

"I'm sure glad to see you here." admitted the mayor happily, as he opened the window to let the blonde girl in noticing how her head was still down and her gaze refused to meet his own as she wearily glided into the office, taking a seat on a plain wooden chair in a corner of the room.

"Is something the matter?" asked the mayor worriedly, when he saw that she still refused to look directly at him but kept her head bowed even still.

It seemed to take Bubbles a while to realize he had just said, as she breathed a deep sigh, the only sound she had made since she entered the room.

Still with her stare fixed on the expensive carpet on the polished mahogany floor, she eventually decided after several long tense seconds to deign to reply.

"It's over Mr Mayor. All over." she said, her voice weak and sad.

Mayor smiled. "Well that's a relief." he replied "I knew you'd find a way to sort the mess out eventually along with your sisters. Those guards really don't know how to do your job well now do they. So what did you tell them?"

"Don't misunderstand me please" her voice was stronger this time and seemed on the verge of breaking into a shout "You know that what's going on outside is your fault. Mr Mayor, it's your fault that all this is happening. It's your fault that so many people are being killed outside."

"Killed?" gasped the mayor shocked that a girl so young was prepared to use such a strong and morbid word so readily "What do you mean? What's happening?"

"Instead of listening to what they had to say, you do this to them. How can you live with yourself Mr Mayor? Don't you have any shame?" shouted Bubbles suddenly looking up, sending a shiver up the mayor's spine with a cold and icy stare "Is this what you're willing to do so that you stay in charge and no one runs against you? Is that it?"

Mr Mayor could not have predicted that this would be how Bubbles would have reacted to his innocent enough question.  
But what surprised him most was how a girl so young was already asking questions so complicated and mature. Just what interest did Bubbles have in a touchy subject as delicate and complex as politics? Why was she asking these questions now of all times when there were riots stirring outside, and potentially dangerous riots too.

"Um Bubbles. Why are you asking all these questions?" Mr Mayor managed to reply, beginning to fear that this conversation was quickly turning into a cross examination instead.

An interrogation that no average girl the age of Bubbles and her sisters, should have been conducting.

Bubbles avoided the bait though, and refused to shift her stony glare from his quivering eyes. "Tell me Mr Mayor. Why are you doing all of this? Just why?". Her voice was lighter this time, but that made it no less dangerous. "Don't you care about all the lives you're putting at risk?".

Mr Mayor shook and convulsed as Bubbles's pale blue eyes seemed to stare into his very soul.

He tried to bring himself to reply, to say anything to calm the upset and agitated little girl down again and reassure her that everything was alright.

It came out only as a frail and almost silent gasp as he almost bit his tongue out, breathing heavily to try and steady himself.

"It's over Mr Mayor." she repeated, ruthlessly disregarding the nervous state of mind she had put him into "Like I said its..."

She was cut off by two brightly covered sparks which she managed to see in the corner of her eye, homing in on the window that had been left wide open to let in some fresh air.

They got larger and larger as they swooped at her, eventually becoming more human shaped and clear as they neared the window, and without asking permission they glided gracefully in through the still open window without slowing down, leaving a very surprised Mayor as they flew into the room, barely managing to stop as they very nearly collided with their sister.

Bubbles didn't need to wait for the two girls now standing before her already beginning to glare at her sadly to realize why they had followed her here and what they were about to say. 

She knew it couldn't be good.

 _ **Thank you so much once again for reading. The next chapter may take a while with all the stresses of university and coursework kicking in.  
These take a lot of time to check and write, so please any comment would be very appreciated for support.  
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about how the next chapter will turn out. I will see you soon. Bye. **_


	12. Simple logic

Bubbles rolled her eyes, and shook her head sadly as her two sisters stood staring her down, like a wolf staring down its soon to be meal. Blossom's painful frown and Buttercup's clenched teeth were so hard to look at and so hard to resist.

Words could not begin to describe the torrent of helplessness that began to wash over Bubbles as she shifted her gaze between the very surprised mayor and her two very upset siblings who were clearly not amused with this mischief she had caused.

Her earlier courage and motivation to go ahead with her plan despite everything, she felt draining away as her sisters continued to look at her without a word.

It was the red haired Blossom, who eventually broke the icy silence that had ensued when she and Buttercup had stormed in on the tense confrontation between her sister and Mayor, clearly not caring that she had interrupted what was an important conversation for Bubbles at least.

"How could you do this Bubbles?" she asked, looking through Bubbles rather than at her directly "How?"

"This isn't cool Bubbles. This isn't." added Buttercup, soft but dangerously.

Bubbles wasn't pleased. She knew that to her sisters, she would never really be taken seriously. She had tried being serious before and it had never worked. Why should she expect it to now, she didn't know.

"You're scaring Mr Mayor" remarked Blossom, looking at the shocked and wordless man with an air of concern "Why are you doing this Bubbles?"

"You better start spilling the beans, or its not gonna be pretty for you." chimed in Buttercup.

Bubbles looked once more at Mr Mayor, who had so far listened in silence to her sisters and was clearly looking to them for help.

Then she turned her attention back to Blossom, and scowled. She had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but if Buttercup wanted her to spill the beans so badly, she would get what she wanted. It was now or never anyway.

"I know more than you think I do Blossom." she began, speaking slowly and clearly so that not a word she said would be missed "I'm not a baby. I know things."

Blossom looked puzzled.

"But you don't listen to me Blossom. You and Buttercup don't listen to me. You always think that you know better, and that nothing I say matters. At least that's how you make me feel."

Blossom's hard eyes softened a little at that, and Buttercup frowned slightly. It was clear they had not expected any of these things to be said and that they were instead expecting some story about why their beloved sister had gone crazy and gone to town with half the city, no pun intended.

"Don't you understand by now what I mean?" asked Bubbles, spreading her arms wide "Don't you see what Mr Mayor did today to make me this upset?"

"What did he do?" Blossom brought herself to quietly ask. "Those people outside are criminals trying to put others at risk."

"What people outside?" asked Mr Mayor suddenly not liking the way this was turning out. He cared not a whit about this outlandish argument between the three siblings, but the mere mention of dangerous criminals outside brought him back to his senses.

Bubbles glared sadly at Blossom and shook her head. "No. They're not criminals Blossom. They're sad and misunderstood people that Mr Mayor treated badly. All they want is to be listened to and noticed, but Mr Mayor doesn't want to listen to what they have to say."

She closed her eyes against moistness "And now you and Buttercup don't want to listen either because you think you know better. Because you think you're right and I'm wrong. You think your sister's wrong and you don't care about your sister. You don't care about me. You don't!"

"Wait, wait hold up Bubs" exclaimed Buttercup, her voice surprisingly mild and gentle despite the clear offense Bubbles expected she must have caused with these snide comments "What makes you think we don't care about you? Of course we care about you."

Bubbles avoided the urge to back down. Buttercup had no idea how long she had waited to hear those words from either her or Blossom. She was beginning to wonder if they would never tell her that despite all the scrapes they had been through despite their relationship as sisters born on the same day, that they did still care for her after all.

They certainly had an odd way of showing it. With how long they had been treating her as a immature child who didn't understand anything, and was therefore not worth taking advice from, this comment simply didn't belong anymore. Especially not from the rough and prickly Buttercup who seldom liked to admit to mistakes and wrongdoings since she was determined to keep a tough image.

"If you really love me as your sister, you'll listen to me." ordered Bubbles firmly, realizing she could not show weakness even if her sisters felt regret. "You'll listen to what I have to say and you'll understand that I had a good reason to do all this. Or at least try to understand."

Buttercup grunted gently, but said no more while Blossom prompted Bubbles with a soft "go on.". She looked at Bubbles no longer as a teacher might look at a misbehaving student but as a true and honest friend genuinely regretful of another's wounded feelings.

Bubbles once more perused the two girls and the trembling elderly man before her, checking that each of them had given her their undivided attention once and for all.

Then she began her long and lengthy explanation, taking frequent glances back at her listeners periodically to ensure their concentration remained on her.

She delivered a brief but informative speech about all the criminals in the city, and how they made the city an even more unsafe place than it already was when monsters from that island somewhere far away kept attacking the city.  
She explained how many of them however, had only sunk to the level they were at when they were deprived of certain things that any decent person with a heart would have, or should have unconditionally granted them anyway.

Using the well known and notorious beggars known all too well as "the Gangreen gang" she elaborated on her earlier point that Mr Mayor had indeed been negligent of the going on's in his city. Issues like Racism, poverty and inequality were too easily shrugged away under Mr Mayor's rule.

Using the incident of when some of the monsters had been forced to vacate their island to live in Townsville, she continued by pointing out how xenophobic each citizen had become and how any attempt at that long awaited truce she had waited too long for would never succeed as long as that attitude remained.

"Those are evil monsters. We have every right to be afraid of..." Buttercup began, but Bubbles quickly held up a hand for silence.

The spotlight for once was on her, the naive and stupid one according to them. She was not determined to let that go quickly.

The xenophobia didn't stop at the monsters who were quite rightly a threat, Bubbles continued to point out. It extended to other cases such as the earlier mentioned Gangreen gang who were mistreated solely because of the color of their skin. The color of their skin and almost nothing else. The crimes they did commit to warrant any scorn happened later.

Blossom covered her mouth. She never thought of it that way.

Bubbles moved onto her next important point choosing her words carefully. Her point being that any security guards or defenses the city ought to have by now were weak and small. And how three girls, however well trained, loyal to the city, or powerful could not hope to contain the threats alone. Especially since one of the key reasons that the monsters attacked in the first place was to draw the girls out for a fight.

A fight where if a monster happened to win or survive, they would return to their island hailed as a hero by their kind. So it stood to reason that if the city had other defenders, the monsters might eventually see less reason for attacking.

"So what you're saying is that somehow all of this is Mr mayor's fault?" asked Blossom, as Bubbles allowed her sister a brief moment of silence expecting a question at exactly that moment.

"There's more to it than that, but yes" was the slow, and thoughtful reply. "But I'm not finished yet Blossom. I'm sorry."

Blossom's eyes continued to widen as she wondered if this really was the same Bubbles sitting before her, telling her these deep and wise things that even she as the team's leader had trouble seeing even by now. This seemed like a completely different person, but perhaps it really was because she had never tried taking Bubbles as seriously.

If the citizens couldn't even together and set aside their differences, stated Bubbles wistfully, then there was no way that they could ever hope to overcome the bigger problems the city still had. There was no point in fighting each other when they already had these crazy monsters to deal with on their hands.

It wasted time, it made it easy for the monsters to storm in uninvited but most of all it was cruel and senseless. Why not embrace friendship and love, when they made the world a so much better place than hatred and resentment?

"You still haven't pointed out how all this is Mr Mayor's fault you know." said Buttercup, when Bubbles eventually stopped speaking to show she was finished.

"Then look around you. Look at all this expensive and high end furniture in this office" remarked Bubbles, now beginning to lose patience with her sisters for not yet seeing her point "Then look at how rundown and poorly built a lot of the other buildings in this city are and you'll see what I see."

Buttercup looked to Blossom. Blossom looked back.

Each were at a loss of the words their clever and astute sister had snatched from their lips.

"See how many people die hungry in the streets. How many people don't even have a job. Don't you get it yet?"

Blossom and Buttercup kept their eyes fixed on each other. Their sight began however to dart at the shocked and shivering man who by now was beginning to take step after step backwards towards his desk.

"If it wasn't for Mr Mayor, a lot of the bad people wouldn't be there. Think about it Blossom. You know it makes sense. Think of how many bad people we've fought who only turned bad for a reason."

A torrent of nasty memories flooded back to Blossom and Buttercup as image after image of many of the criminals they had taken on over the years came to them.

There was of course the Gangreen Gang who were as Bubbles put it, simply desperate for some money so that they didn't starve to death. But there was so much more.

What about that other woman, her name which they'd forgotten. Had she simply not turned to the criminal life when... because, because of sexism. Because she was sick and tired of how like many other places, men were treated with so much more respect and kindness than women? That was a problem they had to admit now, and it was difficult saying that when they themselves were not men.

Or was that just an excuse she had made up on the spot? It didn't matter. Either way this was a problem.

Of course they remembered Princess. The things they did to her that day even if she hadn't given a good first impression, they really did seem a bit cruel and excessive now that they thought about it. Perhaps they really should have at least given her more of a chance to prove herself after all. She might even have been a valuable ally.

But overriding all of those less well remembered thoughts, was Mojo Jojo. Once the professor's loyal assistant who had even had a hand (if only by accident) in their creation which surely would have ended in failure without his help. In short, he was no less than the equivalent of a second parent to all three girls.

But just how had they treated their second parent and the three rivals who should have been their direct siblings, they preferred not to even think on.

Bubbles had taught them two valuable lessons today. And one of those was that had they not been so eager to pick a fight with each and every shady character they set eyes on, they might have had far fewer enemies who wanted the three protectors of the city dead.

But these thoughts were interrupted as the loud voice of a man came through the still open window. Judging by how strangely quiet it had grown outside otherwise, it was clear he was speaking for the large crowds that Blossom and Buttercup only now began to pay heed to.

"We can see you in there Mr Mayor." came the loud and furious screech. "Come out now, or we'll make you."

This was followed by many more cries and bellows which seemed to agree with the first voice.

Mr Mayor cowered under the table, as he continued to shake in even more fear now. He didn't want to leave now or ever.

 _ **Can't think of what to write here as an author's note. But thanks once more for reading and please, a nice comment down in the comment section would be good for support after all the effort put into this chapter.**_


	13. Conclusion

Blossom and Buttercup seemed to lose all color in their cheeks, as they dared a glance through a window.

There were at least hundreds if not thousands upon thousands of discontented, angry people bunched together outside the building, united in their wrath as they stood shouting and screaming.

Bubbles who had already seen the damage caused earlier, was more robust. Her campaign involving little more than posters and a hastily constructed website had gone better than she ever expected. Too well perhaps since she had never intended to cause the collateral amounts of damage she had seen on her way here. But perhaps this did indeed show that she was not alone in her crazy beliefs.

And that did give her comfort, to know that she was indeed right in thinking that the city wanted mayor gone and that a little push was all that it needed to bring everyone who mayor had let down, back to their senses.

"You need to go down and talk to them Mr Mayor" instructed Bubbles, ignoring the worried moans that the short man cowering under the desk was making "it's the only way."

"B, but what if they, they hurt me." the terrified man managed to stammer in reply, his hands covering his face.

"They won't if you go down and tell them you're sorry." insisted Bubbles firmly, and seriously "But if you don't, you'll just make everyone more angry and even we won't be able to help you then."

"Bubbles is right" Blossom reluctantly put in "Those citizens are our responsibility as well, and we can't just put them in danger to help you Mayor. You need to do what she said."

Mayor very slowly stopped shaking, and weakly managed to struggle to his feet. He bowed his head forlorn, all hope now gone from his child like eyes.

"Please no." he begged turning to Blossom, the one he took to be the most understanding. "Please help me. Anything but that."

"I'm afraid we can't help you Mr Mayor" sighed Blossom shaking her head slowly "If we interfere any more, we might make those people even more angry and we can't do that."

"And Bubbles is right about you being a selfish Meanie" chimed in Buttercup abruptly "It's time to face up to what you've done Mayor. It's time."

Mayor looked once more at the three girls, sifting for any sign of sympathy with the plight he now found himself in. He found none, as all three girls sat staring at him like three stone statues. He quietly whined, and uttered a desperate "please". Their looks didn't change.

Mayor sighed, and walked to the window to look at the crowd once more, not caring if they looked back at him or not since they knew he was here.

He saw them glaring angrily back at him, three large men restraining a helpless Ms Bellum who made no attempt to break free of their embrace. A slight glance upwards told him that she knew too that he was in there, but then she quickly averted her sight from him, demonstrating through mime that she could not help her boss as much as she would have liked to.

Taking one last look that was neither friendly nor unfriendly at the three girls who now sat together on three wooden chairs by the wall, he wearily trudged out of his office without shutting the door behind him.

The three girls stayed still, their eyes fixed to the doorway from where he left, and did not move again until the sounds of his footsteps as he lumbered down the stairs had finally died away.

Blossom and Buttercup turned to Bubbles with ashamed and ashen expressions to open their mouths to apologize and ask their younger sister for forgiveness. But Bubbles nodded understandingly before either got the chance. She nodded and gently smiled, her soft grin saying all that she needed to say.

She forgave her sisters despite their lack of understanding and empathy with her, and for being so stubborn and difficult to convince.  
She still loved them, since they were sisters and sisters watched each other's backs even if they didn't always agree with each other. And as long as they started taking her more seriously instead of always selling her ideas short, she would still love them as always. Especially since now they saw that some of her ideas held sense.

Buttercup was first to turn away from her sister, as she put her arm to her head as she closed her eyes to reflect on everything that had happened today.

Though she still felt that Bubbles had been a bit extreme when she seemed so willing to forgive so many of their old adversaries, she did begin to grasp what Bubbles meant when she had told them time and time again that fighting might not be the best approach.

She had not been blind to the carnage and bloodshed caused by the revolution incited by Bubbles's rhetoric, nor the secret unease she felt when she saw police officers seized by the neck and beaten to the ground by angry citizens who had grown tired of all this and were ready to lay down their lives fighting for what they believed in. Mr Mayor had not done his people justice in sending armed guards to patrol the city at a time when negotiations should have been the solution instead.

So many lives lost because of one man's fear and refusal to listen to what his critics had to say about him. So much needless violence started because of feelings that had stayed hidden for far too long. So much noise and clamor because the mistreated citizens had held their silence for too long.

To think that all this was the result of not listening to their sister sooner. To think they just left her to wallow in her own misery, when they could have helped instead.

A new emotion surged through Buttercup as she kept her eyes closed, refusing to cry. An emotion she had not felt in a long time.

She couldn't figure out what exactly it was, but it wasn't good. And she certainly didn't feel comfortable with herself in that moment as the noise outside finally began to die down.


	14. The next step

Mr Mayor had nothing to say as he walked sadly down from his office, and held his hands in the air for all his people to see. The citizens he had let down and wronged with his own greed and pride.  
He knew that anything he did say would be pointless anyway since the only thing that anyone wanted from him now, was for him to be gone.

He hadn't listened to what they had to say to him, and so why should they have to listen to him? He had turned a blind eye to their opinions, their petitions and their needs for too long for them to even consider hearing a word of whatever pathetic plea he would have to make.

Most likely he would beg to keep his position as mayor, and the angry citizens weren't prepared to hear a word of that. Why should they after he had done them so much wrong and hurt?

A great calm seemed to descend over the city almost instantaneously when they saw Mr Mayor silently raising his short arms in surrender, unguarded by anyone.  
Though they still regarded the man they hated with suspicion, they did cease their yelling gradually as a group of men led Mr Mayor away silently.  
Next to them walked another convoy, this one tasked with ensuring that the mayor's loyal assistant Ms Bellum, did not try to escape either. They all knew how smart and logical she was in comparison to her employer, and that made them all the more furious with her.

She too had turned a blind eye to their plight, allowing herself to be strung along when she could have done so much to help instead. They would spare this woman no pity for that.

As the two convoys carrying the two prisoners once politicians merged closer together, Mayor and assistant shot each other a glance.

A look that conveyed the surprise and shock they both felt in that moment better than words ever could. Yet somehow both of them, Mrs Bellum more so than the mayor had known this day would one day arrive. Somewhere deep down in their bones, they knew that with how badly the city was suffering that this fightback was coming.

Deep down Mrs Bellum knew that however hard she tried to assist the mayor, he would never truly be able to change his ways for the better. He wasn't exactly cold blooded, but that didn't mean she found him to be the nicest person. Perhaps deep down she knew that she had been in the wrong all along and her only excuse even now would be, that as a long time assistant to the man who took her off the streets and gave her a home and job, she simply didn't want to rock the boat. She felt no anger, no resentment towards the mob now leading her and her benefactor the Mayor towards what looked to be a large pickup truck parked by the side of a road.

Only a grim sense of catharsis and relief, that justice was finally being done. That she was being rightly punished for her part in this mess, and that now a bright future beckoned with her employer gone. At least she didn't have to be the one to strip Mr Mayor of all his power. That would have been too much for her, even with all the terrible decisions he had made. She had sworn loyalty towards her benefactor since the day she began her career with him, and she had kept her word until the end however hard that had been.

But deep inside, perhaps she really did or even hope that some others would step in.

Her last thoughts as she was bundled into the back of the rundown truck with Mr Mayor already seated inside, was that although little Bubbles really had gone a little overboard in inciting such violence, she really had lived up to her name of being the kind and gentle one among her sisters.

She had been the only one to see the root of the problem, and even if Mrs Bellum didn't agree completely with Bubbles's methods, she understood why Bubbles did it.

It was a hastily constructed plan made clearly in desperation after seeing no other alternative and it worked even if a lot of violence and loss of life was needed.

"Good luck little Bubbles. My hands are tied, but maybe you really can make Townsville great again. I hope your sisters realize what a clever little girl you really are." the tall middle aged woman sighed to herself as the pickup truck she had been placed in began to slowly drive off.

(2 weeks later)

Two weeks passed since that bloody day. But the city looked hardly better. Since without a proper leader, any work clearing up the carnage was greatly slowed with no formal instructions for any of the city to follow.

Under Bubbles's instructions, she had been able to convince a few of the people to begin the grim task of burying the troopers and civilians unlucky enough to have given up their lives in the heated battle for control of the city. She insisted that it was the least those poor souls deserved after being killed so brutally, and the look in those soft and teary big eyes made it impossible for anyone with a heart to say no.

The guards might have been poorly trained and few in number, but they had put up a tough and bloody fight. They clearly had not reckoned on the old wounds that re-opened in each and every citizen when Bubbles set out on her campaign against Mr Mayor.  
Seeing that Bubbles was the author of the simple yet effective information spreading scheme which had finally persuaded everyone to change their mind on that fat and pompous cheapskate counting up his wealth in that opulent office of his, was in fact the only thing that told them that their efforts weren't wasted.

She along with her sisters had been the ones to give any kind of sympathy or help to them when danger threatened the city, while the one supposed to be in charge of such security matters instead did nothing. They were the ones who deserved the respect and not the poor excuse of a leader who could not even open a pickle jar without their help.

The Powerpuff girls were their true leaders and heroes. But the city treated them no better than three naive and immature girls who could be worked like slaves and treated as well or badly as they wanted.  
Slaves who the selfish city ignored at their own good pleasure as hurtful to them as that was. Hardly anyone even acknowledged their help, or said thank you to them after the three heroines rescued their sorry skins time and time again.

What made this all the more wrong now, was that the three kindred children never once asked for anything, not even gratitude. But that only made the people now observing their blonde heroine as she worked alongside the group she had assigned as today's gravediggers even more guilty that they had abused such kindness, taking it for granted and nothing else.

Well that would all change now. Today the city would set things right. Today the true heroes and protectors of the ungrateful city folk, would be treated as such.

Secretly they had always thought that a knowing Powerpuff girl would make for a much better leader than him who had now been evicted from the city after spending three nights locked up in a warehouse pleading for mercy, eventually promising that he would not argue or try to reclaim his lost position if they just let him go in peace after all the terrible things he had done, to which they agreed.

The way that elder sister Blossom devised such clever and well thought out plans in the heat of the moment for that team was certainly commendable, and certainly the other one with raven black hair could really throw out quite the arsenal when it came to a fight, letting her fists do the talking for her. Those two certainly had godlike qualities that they'd be more than glad to have in any potential future mayor.

But one last look at the youngest member of the Powerpuff family, as she stifled a brief yawn before preparing to dig another carefully shaped hole, took all their doubts away in almost an instant.

While they had seen hot tempered Buttercup, and even logical and even headed Blossom dancing over the corpses of one monster or another, it was Bubbles who stood shock still for a moment after each fight was over to cry a little and reflect on all the pain she had inflicted. It didn't matter that it was in defense of innocent lives which would have otherwise been surely lost. All that mattered to the youngest daughter of the rejected and lonely Professor who they had shooed away for no apparent reason, was that she had taken away life and that she regretted it deeply.

"Oh no." they had heard her moan several times as she stood sobbing over a behemoth she had been forced to brutally slaughter "What have I done to you? I'm so sorry."

Not once had they heard her two older and more mature sisters come remotely close to making any kind of comment like that.

There was a reason Bubbles had waited this long for her to carry out her risky plan, and a reason she stayed hidden in the shadows for so long before outing herself.

She probably thought that no one would have listened to her. She probably knew that she would open quite the can of worms even if this risky plan was to succeed, which it had. Those dead bodies once again lining the asphalt weren't going to clean themselves up.

It was clearly a last ditch effort, and only done after carefully weighing the options. Bubbles clearly seemed to be the only sister who seemed to realize that the best battle was the one not fought.

This, thought each man and woman watching the blonde superhero hard at work burying yet another corpse, unaware that everyone else was thinking the same thing, was going to be the quickest they had ever elected a leader in the history of Townsville.

There would be no elections, no counting of scores, no voting against each other. Everyone knew who they wanted to vote for, and everyone was prepared to vote together.

Perhaps a few unpleasant and heartless skinflints like that spoiled bratty girl Princess who no one listened to anyway, would protest, but those would be superficial at best and easily ignored.

There would just be a brief ceremony, where they welcomed their new leader into her job, giving her the congratulations she should have been given long ago.

Why did age matter? If there was one meaningful lesson Mr Mayor had just taught apart from how he was a terrible leader and how it was a grave mistake to have even considered electing him in the first place, it was that sometimes children really were better than adults an in a lot of ways.

You didn't see adults risking their lives to try and ward away the monsters coming to attack the city everyday, now did you?

All the adults in this messed up city ever did was insult the three girls their very lives depended upon. And that was no good at all.

At least children were more innocent and well intentioned than a lot of adults, at least for the Powerpuff girls.

 _ **Thanks so much everyone for coming back and reading. I know I haven't updated in a long time since I've had writer's block and school work has been catching up with me. But thank you all for reviewing and liking, it means a lot to me.  
I do read everyone of your reviews and appreciated them dearly from the bottom of my heart.**_

 _ **So please, once again I would like to hear your thoughts about what you think is coming next?  
So thank you once again for reading and I will see you in the next chapter which should come soon. Bye bye.**_


	15. The end The beginning

Ever since Mr Mayor had been stripped from his position, and evicted from the city in short order, their younger sister hadn't been the same.

The monsters must have been taking a break of some sort, since there had not been one single monster attack on the city for at least a month by now.  
What should have been a good few weeks for the three siblings to simply be happy together enjoying the brief peace, had been nothing of the sort. Instead, Bubbles only seemed to grow more distant from the two older Powerpuffs, saying little when she took her place at the dining table, and keeping mostly to herself as she refused mostly to spend much time playing with her sisters, electing instead to pass the hours in their room alone.

Blossom and Buttercup must have been blind not to notice however, the fatigued and weary eyes their sister had began to develop over the past weeks.  
Most likely a side effect of late nights spent sneaking the posters she had printed around the city, and from making page after page on that dangerous place Professor told the three girls to stay well away from called "the internet.".

They had clearly not thought there was anything wrong when their sister stormed out of the house clearly angry, after a heated discussion where she unsuccessfully tried to share her opinions of why Mr Mayor was very obviously not a temporary problem for the city, and why he needed to leave.

No wonder poor Bubbles had gone to such drastic lengths they never thought possible from the smiley and cheerful little sister who always tried to be optimistic about everything. She must have felt so ignored and alone after that argument, and felt that this was the only way to get anyone to listen to her. She must have waited so long hoping things would one day change by themselves, but become increasingly frustrated when Mr Mayor never once took the hint that he was doing the city no favors.

That time where he forced the dangerous monsters to move to the city for instance, simply because he sold an island of theirs off after finding a deed to the island and selling it off knowing full well that if the monsters moved with the people, that already uneasy relationships between two parties who simply could not get along would only worsen.

Not surprises then when even after the girls had managed to appease the monsters somewhat by giving them back their island, that the number of attacks on the city more than tripled for a while and the girls were forced several times to stay awake all night keeping watch and fighting, so that they came to school the next day with a drooping head and eyes that wouldn't stay opened however hard they tried.

They should have realized right then and there that Mr Mayor's city was the result of carelessness and selfish decisions made without thought. And it should have ended there.

"I forgive you." Bubbles at least had the good grace to say, when her sisters apologized to her a week after the revolution. Her tone was friendly and sympathetic, but even Buttercup who was not normally the best at noticing when people meant differently from what they said, could easily tell that her sister was still very angry with them over this. A simply apology would not cut it this time, even for the altruistic and easy going altruist that Bubbles was.

2 weeks had passed since then by now, and at least the streets looked much less bloody and lined with bodies than it had been a week ago. Work had been slow, since for some days after the revolution, many survivors had grown lazy and refused to go to work, some turning to alcohol while others pranced about the ruined streets cheering for Mr Mayor's defeat. Others just passed the days at home alone, while the rest sat in the chat rooms that their own sister had created, messaging their newfound friends who had been brought to them by their common hatred for their former governor about how everything had been a bit success.

Work had begun only several days after the excitement and adrenaline rush from the violence and deaths finally began to cool, and Bubbles of all people had been able to rally a few equally determined and righteous workers to begin work reconstructing the damage done to some of the buildings around the now even more rundown city, and to begin the grim task of burying the dead bodies which were bound to begin spreading horrible plagues were they left to rot much longer on the streets and alleys.

A few answered her call, though progress was slow since the city had a shortage of cranes and other such devices which might have made the rebuilding process so much more efficient. Another reminder that Mr Mayor should not have stayed in power anymore. Shovels and hammers were for most, the best tools at their disposal.

Bubbles had already gained a surge in popularity as she heroically threw herself into the fray during that ferocious battle, to help give the revolting citizens the final push needed for them to finally bring down Mayor's remaining loyalists, outing herself in the process as the one who had united them all together against who they only now realized had been their common foe all along.

The Gangrene Gang had been part of that fray, and even they felt a surge of joy at seeing Mr Mayor reduced to a prisoner in the same cell they had been kept in during their times in prison. A small part of their hatred for the three girls died that day, when they saw the blonde kindergartner firing beam after beam at security guards who threatened to ruin the uprising they had waited so long for now.

Princess took less interest in the recent goings on, though she did get a small tinge of satisfaction at seeing how pathetic that dwarfish little man looked when they hauled him into the back of that pickup truck and had him evicted from the city a few days later, booing at him as he went and cheering audaciously when they saw he was gone.

She would have preferred it if they had offered her the job of running this cruddy city, since she believed herself a much better leader than any of the loser Powerpuffs who refused to let her join their group of superheroes when they saw she was just too good for them.  
But she would been much sadder without a doubt to see such a prestigious position which none of her hated enemies deserved,, to see that oh so comfy looking chair in that beautiful office be handed down to either the loudmouthed Blossom or Buttercup.

Both of them had enjoyed tormenting her from the moment their paths were unlucky enough to cross, and neither had shown her even the slightest degree of pity when they saw terrible fates befall her again and again. Buttercup in particular had laughed at her from behind her cell window, when she had seen Princess locked in prison.  
That awful bully who called herself the oh so noble protector of the city, had spent an entire hour standing outside Princess's cell mocking her with a stuck out tongue, knowing Princess was watching, the first time Princess had been sent to jail.

But at least the stupid people in this stupid city hadn't been that brainless. Princess did reluctantly admit she found Bubbles slightly more tolerable than her two bully sisters, if only by a hair or so and even if she did hate the blonde with as much passion as she did the redhead and raven hair. There was that awkward conversation she had been forced to endure that night with her hated enemy, where the blonde had even had the gall to suggest that she was sorry for what she did.  
The nerve of some emotionless psychopaths really did wow Princess.

Though there was something in the way her enemy spoke, almost as if trying desperately to illicit sympathy that the Powerpuff girls simply did not deserve anymore, that Princess didn't understand.

The awarding ceremony would take place withing 2 weeks from now.

It wouldn't be a big event, just a formal little meeting where everyone would set aside their differences for a little while to see their youngest and first female Mayor be awarded her place. There would be a polite round of applause at the end of course, and everyone would be told that if they could to bring a present of some sort, small as it might be. No doubt little Bubbles would have more coloring books, crayons, sweets and possibly even toys at the end of the brief carousal than she would know what to do with. Though with a heart as pure and dedicated as only Bubbles alone could ever possess, they knew that she'd at least appreciate the kind gesture.

The first of many kind gestures that the city people planned to make, to show their new and improved mayor that they really had changed their tune on everything.

To reveal the true extent which they had admired and appreciated all the work her and her sisters had done for them all over the years. Appreciation they decided was better late than never to express.

There'd be a small pile of presents for Blossom and Buttercup too of course, Bubbles with her concern and affection for her family would definitely make sure of that.

But those would still pale in comparison to the gigantic treasure trove that Bubbles would have trouble storing for some time, even with the vast amount of space that her new office building would offer her.

That day came upon the three sisters more quickly than they could ever have anticipated, and somehow passed uneventfully enough.

No criminals were present to sabotage anything, and even some of their rivals who the three girls made out in the crowd like Fuzzy Lumpkins seemed to be behaving themselves if only reluctantly.

No sign of Mojo Jojo, or their supposed brothers the Rowdyruff boys, but then again the three girls supposed that was for the best.

The redhead and raven hair gave their sister a much need reassuring pat on the back followed by a supportive smile she had not seen on their faces, since their first successful battle together defending their home city and realizing their lifelong callings which had never changed even unto this day.

They had clapped the loudest and hardest as Bubbles stood on the makeshift wooden stage overlooking the crowds that had come to witness her ascension,

An FBI officer who the girls recognized as being the same one who had tasked them with interrogating the talking dog, and who had brought the Gangrene gang to their school claiming that even crooks deserved at least a basic education, acted as the replacement for the minister who would have read Bubbles the venerated scriptures that all Mayor's were read on their first day on the job.

"I'll do my best." Bubbles had responded when he asked whether she would take good care of the lives counting on her decisions. "I might not be able to live up to everything I'm expected to, but I will try to make you all happy.".

The crowd cheered in approval. No massive round of applause and nothing over the top but it wasn't necessary to show just how much they already liked the attitude of their new leader.

"Speech. Speech!" someone in the crowd yelled as the cheers died down again.

Bubbles looked down at the ground in deep reflection of this suggestion for several long seconds. She knew this would be only the first of many times she would have to do this, and she needed those seconds to reflect on just what that meant.

Then she looked up again and gently nodded.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"The main problem for Townsville is how we can protect everyone at the same time." she began, choosing her words cautiously.  
"My sisters and I can only do so much. We can protect you and watch over you, but we're still only three little girls who can only be in three places at once."

She paused for a moment, to catch her breath. The fact that not one person in the crowd was booing yet, did nothing to ease the nervousness coming her.

"We'll protect you." she continued, battling to keep her voice from breaking "But who'll protect us when we need help. Who'll protect the protectors when they can't protect themselves because they're busy protecting you?"

"That's actually a good point." a few listeners in the crowd whispered quietly.

"You need to know how to protect yourselves." declared Bubbles, a burning passion in her quiet, gentle voice "You need to protect us. We need to protect each other, to watch each other's backs. The only way we can ever be safe, is if we watch each other's backs so that not one of us is left unsafe."

The crowd began to quietly speak again thinking that this awe inspiring speech from such a young child wonder had finished, but Bubbles regretfully held up a hand for silence. They obeyed almost at once.

"I want to read you all a quote from one of my favorite stories before I finish." asked Bubbles. "It goes like this. It's a classic."

"Don't keep us in suspense. Tell us." barked an eager voice from the back.

Bubbles looked once more at who were now her followers ready to answer to her every order and decision. They looked at her, eagerly anticipating whatever powerful words of encouragement their new leader would end her inspirational speech with. It had been short, but surprisingly powerful.

She bowed her head as she quietly spoke her next words.

"We don't live alone" she quoted, her tone surprisingly strong and confident despite obviously trying to read from a script she had prepared in her mind. "We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other's safety."

She worriedly raised her head up, expecting to see only disappointment and boredom from her listeners. She realized not many of them were fans of literacy and that many probably did not enjoy a good book nearly as much as her. She knew this was a lousy way to end any kind of speech, but she just had to say this out loud since she believed so strongly in that line.

Unable to find anymore courage to speak even another word, she simply nodded her head gently to show she had finished.

Another polite round of applause soon followed, followed by several enthusiastic "yays and yeahs which quickly became a combined "woohoos" from the smiling audience who had not at all been bored by this brief talk their new mayor had given.

They knew they had made a good decision, when this was the quality of Bubbles's speeches. Though it was brief, and therefore simple since it did wasted no time getting to the point, her words had been anything but empty.

The crowd continued to smile and cheer, even as Bubbles politely bowed and stepped from the stage.

She herself was the only one who did not smile even as she was escorted to what was once the old mayor's office, and which would soon become the venue she spent much of her time in.

She had not forgotten the promises she had made to herself, which she swore she would fulfill should her plan be successful.

And she thought that to a good place to start was by appointing none other than Princess Morbucks as her personal assistant now that the wise and shrewd Miss Bellum had been taken out of the picture sadly.

She knew that Blossom and Buttercup would rail at her stupidity and naivety almost as soon as she gave them the news.  
She knew that many of the city folk would surely think she had gone mad, letting a remorseless criminal and spoiled little bossy boots take her place as right hand.

But she already knew what to tell them all, when they would no doubt eventually begin to pester her with question after question, demanding an answer as to why a much better and kinder mayor would already be making such a poor decision so early in their career.

"I feel that Princess is deep down, a good little girl with only a few bad thoughts." Bubbles would reply. "And I feel like she would make a good friend. And if she does turn out to be a good friend, I'm doing this to give her the second chance any good friend deserves. And if she instead turns out to be a bad friend who hasn't changed, I would be doing this instead to get on her good side so that hopefully she'll change her mind about me and my sisters. We've done a lot of bad things to her as well, I feel it's time we try to make it right."

Bubbles knew in that second, as she had a flash of all the conflicts that would be started because of her decision, that her relationship with her sisters could never be the same.

Nor could her sister's once good and intimate bond with each other, go without change.

She had realized long ago perhaps that though they were three sisters born on the same day side by side, deep down they were still three very different people with three very conflicting personalities.

They were never meant to stay together forever and ever. And to continue to try, would be hurtful and wrong for all three of them.

It was time that they went their three separate ways.

It was the only way they could ever learn from their mistakes, and continue to grow.

It was the only way, and it had to start now, thought Bubbles sadly as she sat in a comfortable armchair in her new office looking outside the window lost in thought.

Sorry Blossom. Sorry Buttercup. But you can't change my mind.

 _ **The satisfying conclusion. Mayor stepped down, Bubbles took his place and Blossom and Buttercup finally realize their sister's not just some crybaby who isn't worth a penny of their attention.**_

 ** _I'd like to thank everyone so much for reading and commenting, since this story really has been quite the journey for me.  
I've had to work so long to get everything thought up and typed, and I really do appreciate the support._**

 ** _But not all is well in Townsville as of yet, and there are bound to be problems that remain unsolved for yet a while._**

 ** _So stay with me as I prepare the sequel to this tale of action and suspense, coming soon._**

 ** _Note: The sequel will most likely be a crossover. Though what kind of crossover it will be, I won't reveal yet._**

 _ **So please share your final thoughts about this story, and your thoughts about the possible sequel with me, and I would greatly appreciate all your support.**_

 ** _But for now thank you and buh bye._**


End file.
